Memorial Weekend Waste Simply Another Sideshow

Immerse yourself within this city’s nightlife and you will achieve a realization. It is the circus. The drink slingers and promotions superstars are the attractions. The bunnies, bunny chasers, intoxicated, and randoms are the spectacle. And the margin separating the cliques is negligible.

Prior to Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick’s Day, I had minimal and moderated expectations… I should have maintained similar skepticism for Memorial Day. I assumed the comfortable weather and weekend placement would instinctively entice the masses into various venues. What I forgot was that this city calendars only Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for the purposes of inebriation…

Throughout the evening, Lodge Bar was scattered. With music inside and outside, the crowd remained energetic. A plurality of chairs were occupied. Several tables were occupied. Still, the crowd never resembled or rivaled Mardi Gras… It never even resembled or rivaled four days ago, when the venue secured scoreboard over Sugar Bar… (Trust me, the results were different this evening)…

While I typically covet crowd and energy, scattered evenings produce spectacular column material…. And no one is more spectacular column material or simply spectacular than Lodge Bar Promotions Superstar Jen Bunny… As she danced, flirted, laughed, and talked, it was impossible to extract my attention from her (And I suppose it helped that I didn’t actually want to)… It’s not as if Lodge Bar isn’t littered with platinum… However, Jen Bunny is an immaculate marquee amongst their several scrumptious solitaires (for those unfamiliar with the terminology, google diamonds)…

Jen Bunny was marvelous material, but Jake Wisdom provided the evening’s signature conversation… Since my initial appearance at Lodge Bar, I must have spoken with Jake on two dozen occasions… What makes every conversation valuable is the expertise and knowledge I acquire by simply listening… I may offer parameters or topics, but Jake owns the conversation…
Within thirty minutes of my arrival at Lodge Bar (for those of you lost, this is what you might term a flashback), I received a phone call and stepped outside the venue… As I spoke on my phone, Park Street Patio and Sugar Bar Co-Owner Mike Gallichio pulls alongside the curb… He asks if I reside or work at Lodge Bar… I answer no… He then asks why I spend the hours I spend at Lodge Bar if I don’t reside or work there….

Obviously, I expect venue executives and promotions superstars to campaign and request coverage… However, Sugar Bar’s continuous campaigning is ridiculous… They critique other venues… They protest our coverage… They seek attention… Do I never venture into their venue? (Wait, I am in their venue almost every evening)… Sugar Bar is an exemplary scene and their owners shouldn’t campaign… They should simply enjoy what I type…

They should also enjoy what I twitter, if and when the conversations cease and allow me to twitter… I can’t say this enough, I adore and respect everyone that I encounter… They make this website possible… However, their charm and my penchant for never shutting up are impeding my reporting… Half of my evenings are conversations… Seventy percent of my evenings should be reporting…

Eventually, I entered Sugar Bar, which enjoyed a swarmed night… I could spend multiple paragraphs discussing that, but I will instead focus on the conversations, which captivated most of my attention… Jen Excellence and Molly Style are the most amusing and random pair in this city… Whether it’s mocking the masses or promoting themselves, they are never sans confidence or a concise retort…

Shawn Money and Avi Primetime are a pair which separately provide enough column material for a month and jointly provide enough column material for the next two years… They are entertaining and informative… They are sarcastic and serious… They comprehend what their occupation is and isn’t… Whereas the masses want to be them for an evening, they wouldn’t mind being one of the masses…

And now I must mention another superstar, someone I met only two evenings ago, but someone who has already earned several conversations and a twitter mention… Sugar Bar Promotions Superstar Whitney Allure… You appreciate her presence for five minutes… You speak with her for ten minutes… And you can’t completely understand her… Behind her crystal appearance, she is a New Life Crisis song… She’s blessed, depressed… Her inner beauty remains confined…

Preventing one completely vacant evening was Park Street Patio, who was swarmed from the moment I arrived until the moment I closed my phone… Every chair as occupied… Every table was occupied… And their music was incredible… I’m unaware as to how much money was raised, but if the event served as an indication, the coffers should be crushed…

Speaking of worthy causes, I enjoyed a twenty-minute conversation with Crawl for Cancer Organizer JP Ratajczak, whose event (which will include all afternoon and evening twitter coverage) is less than one week away… As one speaks with JP, he is clearly scattered and swarmed with details… Yet, his workload doesn’t detract from his intrigue or passion for the event that his consumed his persona…

I cannot conclude this column without mentioning Park Street Patio and Sugar Bar Promotions Superstar Randy Haffey, whose success I referenced earlier… On a regrettable and scattered evening, Haffey executed an eighteen-carat success. His triumph merits praise, not only for the charitable contribution it provided, but for the highlight it intermixed into an otherwise horrific night…

As light illuminated the five venues that were available this evening, bunnies, bunny chasers, and randoms staggered toward their cars… Drink slingers counted receipts, emptied trash, and scrubbed bottles… This was not an evening either clique had expected… Yet, each was only hours away from another evening in the center ring…