Sunday, June 10, 2007

THE WEEKEND IN PICTURES... (a lengthy post)

It's Sunday morning and I figure this is as good a time as any to update the blog. As the fallout of the announced closing continues, it's been heartwarming to see old familiar faces stop by to share their thoughts and support for the bar. Very encouraging indeed.

It was also a strange weekend as far as day-to-day activities go. Friday night was your run-of-the-mill summer weekend night, with all some cool stuff taking place mixed in with the occasional hit of the bizarre.


MATT LONG (aka THE GODFATHER) made a rare appearance on Friday night, stopping by to say hello and to hang out a bit before meeting friends for dinner. He looked great and he was in relatively good spirits, considering what's going on with his baby (the bar's closing, I mean). Well wishers who stopped by to ask about the bar were pleasantly surprised to see him there and it was nice to see them reminisce about the past.


Around the same time, we got a hit from a large contingent of University of Wisconsin alumni, who were on a "pub crawl". The group ran about 40-50 deep and they were definitely in a partying mood. Lucky for them, they arrived at the same time as the Jose Cuervo promo we were hosting, because that only meant that not only did we have a large group of party animals, but now they were partying with mega amounts of tequila shots flowing all over the place. A nice start to the evening.



As the night went on, strange things began to take place. For example:

I happened to be standing in the doorway when these two drunken idiots tried to bulldoze their way into the bar. It was obvious that they had too much to drink, so I stopped them in the doorway and told them that they couldn't come in. When they asked why, I explained to them that they'd had enough to drink and that they should probably go home. One guy took offense to not being allowed entry and stepped outside and took a fighting stance and called me out. The ensuing conversation took place:

D.I. (drunk idiot): "Yo' m***** f*****, how about you dance on deez nuts?!"

S.F. (SwanFather): "Excuse me?"

D.I.: "You heard me! Dance on deez nuts!"

I stared at him for a minute and then smiled.

S.F.: "O.K. F***face. Pull them out and I'll dance on them."

D.I. (looking puzzled): "What?"

S.F.: "You heard me, swizzle d***! Pull out your nuts and i'll dance on 'em."

D.I. (clearly puzzled and now getting frustrated): "What are you? A homo?"

S.F.: "I'm not, but clearly you have some tendencies. Now pull out your nuts so I can dance on em!"

I began to walk toward him and he's clearly shook up and getting angry. His friend is trying to pull him away and begging me to stop. This goes on for a few more minutes before they eventually leave. Meanwhile, D.I. is clearly upset at the fact that his show of bravado has backfired on him. They eventually walk across the street, throwing me the finger all along. Funny stuff.

Meanwhile while this is going on, there's this poor girl who's having an argument on the phone with I guess is her boyfriend. She's leaning on a pole on the corner and stops barking on the phone just enough to puke on the sidewalk. After puking, she continues to yell into the phone like nothing happened. You can't make this stuff up.

Speaking of puking. We had a situation later in the evening involving a cute blonde who was hanging with a group of friends. In the middle of her conversation, she stands up, pukes in the middle of the floor, then walks away like nothing happened. She sneaks off to the bathroom and when she comes back up, I tell her that her night's over and that she had to leave. She looks at me in amazement and wonders aloud why she's being singled out. Meanwhile, practically the whole bar had seen her barf all over the floor, nevermind the fact that she still had morsels of dinner splattered on her dress and shoes. After protests and a couple of bribe offers, the group decide to leave, clearly not happy about the turn of events. Oh well. Rules are rules: you puke, you leave. That capped off an interesting Friday night.

I got an early call on Saturday morning from DIRTY SANCHEZ ordering me to come downstairs. I was scheduled to open up for the day shift so it wasn't that bad but imagine my surprise when I get to the bar and come up upon these bozos:

(from left to right: NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, DIRTY SANCHEZ, SILENT BOB and AUDI 5000 on their way to the BELMONT STAKES)

The boys were on their way to the Belmont Stakes and wanted to show off their costumes. Every year they make the trek out to the Stakes, donning strange costumes to make themselves stand out. This year's costume (Uncle Sam WANTS YOU) was a hit as early risers were turning their heads as they walked down 3rd Avenue. I can only imagine the reaction they got on the train, let alone at Belmont Park....

Saturday Afternoon was a lazy one as the sunny (yet muggy) afternoon kept my day light. The bar was slow but it was alright as I was kept company by MR. LOW-KEY, ANGRY BLACK and the ENERGIZER BUNNY. I also got a visit from a couple of former employees, LIZ and MIKE, who'd just heard the news about the bar's closing. They were genuinely sad about the turn of events and hung out for awhile to reminisce about the past over a few cold mugs of beer. They also bought some T-Shirts as keepsakes and promised to stop by again before we close. It was great to see them.

Throughout the afternoon the locals would stop by after reading our closing sign and express their thoughts about the bar possibly leaving our neighborhood. People that I hadn't even met before, sharing stories about Third and Long and it's predecessor, The Fireside Pub and wondering aloud about what's going to happen with the space. It's been interesting to see the reactions.

(A few locals, reacting over the bar's closing)

Finally, after my day shift, I go back to the SwanPad to relax. From time to time I like to look out the window onto 3rd Avenue. There's something relaxing about watching the foot traffic up and down the Ave. Imagine my surprise when I looked down and in the doorway, I see my barback, JR. It's obvious that he's still upset about the bar's closing. Here he's being "consoled" by a caring pedestrian who happened to catch JR. during an emotional moment. Bless his heart. Who says New Yorkers don't care?



More pics from Saturday night:














It's now Sunday morning and I have a few things to do before getting ready for tonight's SOPRANO's Finale. My prediction: TONY gets WHACKED.... by his crazy sister, JANICE, in revenge for her husband BOBBY's death. You saw it here first, kids!

GO CAVS!



nuff said