WEEKEND RECAP

FRIDAY
My Friday evening began uncertainly, as I had been waiting all day to see if I would be able to go to Tacoma with the Bobcats. Unfortunately, it was not in the cards, as they could offer me a ride down, but not a ride back. I had no problem taking the bus, but the last bus to Seattle would have had me leaving at 10:30, hardly worth the trip.

Instead, I met Meep, Andrew, Brugos, Justin, and Sherwood at Kozak’s. I really like the food and atmosphere (extremely mellow) there, but I have to say that their on-tap cider, Woodchuck, leaves a very unpleasant aftertaste that makes me feel as though I’ve imbibed a packet of Smarties. As it is indeed mellow at Kozak’s, our time there was uneventful.

We lost Andrew, and then moseyed up the street to The Canterbury. That is one bar that has DEFINITELY suffered since the smoking ban. Not so much with clientèle, but with the fact that the lack of smoke leaves the various pukey, pungent odors of the place to roam freely to our noses. Someone really needs to flood that place with bleach.

We sat in the back, and Brugos severely beat my ass for two rounds of shuffle board. To be fair (to me), it was only the second time I’d played the game. Unlike pool for me, alcohol does NOT improve my shuffle board skills.

Everyone was pretty tired (the theme of the weekend, actually), so we decided to call it a night…after one more drink at a new place up the street called 22 Doors.

22 Doors is definitely not our scene. The music they played was loud and repetitive. Their drinks (apart from the PBR) were overpriced, and their food (even though we weren’t eating), was poncy and infused with various herbs meant to sound impressive. I don’t know how it happened, but even though I was about to fall asleep AT the table, I managed to stay out till 1:30 in the morning. I guess my inner party child refused to let my outward old lady waste a Friday.

SATURDAY
Saturday was a day full of designs that never came to fruition. I was supposed to go to yoga but the scary wind outside convinced me otherwise. Was anyone else freaked out by the wind? I have never heard our building creak before, but it was definitely creaking ALL night Friday night. Not to mention the tree next to our window that was bowing so much that it loudly scratched the side of our building. At a few points, I entertained the thought that Dom and I should move to the living room, lest we become impaled by a tree in our own beds.

Meep and I were supposed to have a writer’s meeting, but Meep woke up feeling under the weather (a cold, not a hangover), so instead, I spent all day surfing the internet, and trying to find my most Anime-looking outfit for Kayobi’s DDR party that night.

You know what? I really don’t have anything remotely Anime. I settled on a frilly short black skirt and some high boots. I found some cat ears too. That would have to do.

While I waited for Party Time, Dom and I watched “Kinsey”. I liked it. It was nice watching Liam Neeson actually ACT for one, instead of giving his usual (I find) monotone performance. Also…hey, they’re Peter Sarsgaard’s penis! There’s not nearly enough full-frontal male nudity in narrative film, if you ask me.
Meep and I headed to the Wok and Grill around 8 for the DDR party. They were having technical difficulties from the get-go. Eventually, it came down to needing one very specific cable. A few people ran back to their homes to see if they had it. Dom eventually came through, dropping it off on his way to Vashon. And the dancing revolution began…

As much as I love both DDR AND the Wok and Grill, it was kind of hard doing it in that space. We were tucked into a corner with 4 pads and a projection screen about 10 feet from our face. It was really difficult to keep our feet on the pads and look up at that angle at the same time. Still, it was nice to be able to DDR at all, as I definitely suffer from withdrawal. I’m eternally jealous of both Kayobi and Meep who actually have neighbors whose schedules they can keep track of, allowing them to DDR at a moment’s notice. My neighbor is a crazy recluse and so you can pretty much bet that at any moment during the day, our movements disturb him.

The place began to fill up around 11, so we decided to take our leave and go back to Meep’s house for some quality sitting time. Gene and Borg were in tow. We watched SNL (how sad that there’s a whole generation of kids out there who don’t know that Steve Martin used to be hilarious). Despite the frequency of lame guests, I really like the current cast. Most of them have loads of natural talent and they don’t rely on a popular gimmicky recurring character and 15 minute one-joke sketches anymore. The few recurring characters they do have are diverse enough to always feel fresh. In addition to being hilarious, the current cast is definitely the most attractive cast in SNL history. There are only a few folks in the bunch that I wouldn’t make out with. (Darrell Hammond, you know who you are…)

After SNL, it was definitely time for bed. Another mellow weekend night that still kept me up till last call.

SUNDAY
Again I was (unfortunately for my increasingly doughy mid-section), unable to make it to yoga, as Meep had convinced me to watch the Super Bowl with her at Kozak’s. We arrived around 2:45 to an already rather full bar. Meep and I got the best seats we could (still frustratingly uncomfortably close to both the door and the projector screen, and we settled in for the long hall.

The wait staff was an eclectic bunch. The bus boy wore a Seahawks jersey and was clearly jazzed about the game. Our waiter, who looked like the love child of Mino Poulose (sp?) and Mickey Dolenz, wore a v-neck sweater with white shirt and tie underneath, pin-stripe pants and a page-boy cap. He clearly wasn’t interested in the game, but seemed amused by the bar patrons nonetheless. He was very polite and attentive and would have been an ideal recipient for an Archie McPhee’s tip, but I sadly didn’t have any cards on me. (For a while now, Meep and I have taken to leaving, in addition to a cash tip, a novelty trading card from Archie McPhee’s to waiters who seem like they would appreciate such things. For a while, I had some New Kids on the Block cards. I currently have a few “Perfect Strangers” cards left. I need to make another run to Archie’s to replenish our stock).

We ordered a side-dish spread (Kozak’s is a lot like a southern-style restaurant in that you can make a meal out of all the delicious sides they offer) of garlic mash, spiced apples, cucumber salad and chips and salsa. A word to the wise about Kozak’s: everything you order comes in monstrous proportions. Unless you normally find yourself finishing other people’s meals, plan on sharing everything you order, and order less than you think you can eat.

Meep drank Manny’s, and I put Mino’s bartending knowledge to the test by ordering a bevy of cocktails. This turned out to be a poor idea come bill-paying time. Turns out drinks that contain Koluha are not cheap.

The bar was really rowdy for a while, but of course, once the Seahawk’s fate was sealed, everyone settled down, stopped cursing loudly at the referee, and accepted the outcome. Too bad, really. It would have been nice for Seattle to have the Seahawks win. They really did play well, and even though I doubt I’ll start watching football on a regular basis, I did enjoy watching this game.

After the game, I tried to think of some movie or show that Meep and I could watch to help lift her spirits. Turns out, the best possible therapy for your team losing the Super Bowl, is to watch the Puppy Bowl (II) on Animal Planet. Meep had discovered this in the morning, but it was still being re-run in the evening. The concept is simple: puppies are placed in a miniature mock-up of a football stadium and are given lots of toys. They play with these toys over the course of 4 hours, while the sound effects of a stadium crowd and wacky music are played. Whenever something truly adorable happens, they cut to an instant replay. Whenever a puppy heads to the water bowl, they cut to the “bowl cam”, a camera placed underneath the bowl to get the waters-eye-view of a puppy drinking from the bowl, stepping in the bowl, or dropping a toy in the bowl. If a puppy poos on the field, they call a “puppy penalty”, in which a man in a referee outfit blows a whistle, comes out onto the field and cleans up the poo.

What could half-time bring for the Puppy Bowl? Why, kitten! Kittens on a three-tiered stage with toys of their own, while disco music and glitter ball strobes them! For the finale, confetti was dropped on their bewildered, sleepy heads. Whoever came up with this concept is an absolute genius. The fact that it was the Puppy Bowl II, leads me to believe that they will be back next year with more puppies! If anyone needs any ideas for a future gift for Meep (or anybody who likes puppies and kittens), for whatever reason, I think the Puppy Bowl DVD would pretty much be perfect.

I fell asleep around 10:30. I did a lot of resting this weekend. Somehow, I still feel exhausted. I think I’m going to avoid mid-week drinking and partying until SXSW, because even though I wasn’t hung over in Park City, I may have a vacation hangover that I’m still recovering from.

Next weekend: The Tangents play!

February 6, 2006
Categories: Dear Diary . Tags: weekend recap . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment