And... Go.

So, finally a day off from work. It's time to assemble a posse and visit parts of the city I've never seen before. Grab Will and Chris Lamb , and walk down to Chinatown. Go food shopping at the crazycheap asian markets. Wander around, getting lost, taking pictures. Head down a side street, looking to get dinner at whatever restaurant seems interesting. Stop to stare at the eels and fish and giant crabs in the tanks in the window. And then, because it's a beautiful night, we walk the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn and back. Just one more evening in the big city. Always something new to do, somewhere new to explore. You'd have to really work at it to ever get bored here. -PAR

A truck delivering beverages to a Chinese Food joint on Avenue A. 'Nuff said. -PAR

It'd been a while since I'd been able to get out to a show. So yesterday I took the evening off and caught the 2 train up to the Bronx, heading to the final old-school jumpoff of the summer at Crotona Park . A beautiful summer evening, cool weather (for a change), funky beats, lots of people out to have a good time. A typical assortment of hip-hop pioneers onstage and throughout the crowd. Then, back to Manhattan. Getting off the subway in Times Square and walking the rest of the way home, just becuase it was so nice out. Ah, summer in the city. -PAR

As I noted earlier , I'm DJing at the Apocalypse Lounge every Monday night with my buddy Anna Bond. We were there last week for the first time, just testing it out and getting the feel of the place. Now it's time to do it right. Tomorrow night, we set it off in style. Anyhow. It's not a dance party, it's not a big throwdown, it's a chill weeknight hang-out with good music. Expect to hear punk, indie, 50s R&B, shoegazer, 60s garage rock, britpop, new wave, old soul tunes, maybe even some classic hip-hop. And whatever else we feel like. Cheap drinks, no cover charge, two people spinning tunes just for you. It all goes down at 189 E. 3rd Street (between Avenues A & B), every Monday night, 10PM until last call. Think of it as a really awesome weekly radio show. Only with cool folks hanging out. And air-conditioning. And booze. How can you resist that? -PAR

Being the first day of summer, margaritas were in order. So, grab the benjones, and head off to Greenwich Village. Sit on a patio. Watch the girls stroll by. Consume chips and salsa, and get slowly tilted on tequila. And then, home. Pull music, while sobering up. And head to Pianos to DJ. Somewhere around 3:30 in the morning, having kept people dancing and enjoying themselves all night, finally break down the equipment, pack everything back up, and head home. The dance party was a success. More to come. Summer kicks off in fine style. -PAR

The ghettoflyer for tonight's party. Welcome to summertime. -PAR

Well, as expected, Lucas the Dumpling Man scored an easy victory over the upstart that moved into the neighborhood . The dumpleganger has changed his logo to the much less derivative image shown below, and altered the menu to offer a more typical selection of chinese-style-food (not just the dumplings). Huzzah! The path is now clear for the next step in Dumpling Man's masterplan to rule NYC... -PAR