Stuck on Nate

westheimer wants to visit this place

westheimer wants to visit this place

I opened my mailbox today to find a delicious article in this week's New York Magazine. The Urban Etiquette Handbook should be required reading for all New Yorkers, especially new New Yorkers, and the really old, craby New Yorkers.

With tit-bits like "How do you break up with your stylist?" to "Stealing a Cab, Politely," this handbook will keep you informed and keep you laughing, I promise.

My favorite of all - and especially important for NYC newbies from po-dunk towns, such as your truly - is David Cross' guide for meeting celebs called "Where do I know you from? How not to alienate That Guy From TV."

So check it out. On newsstands now. We'll all be better for it and perhaps have less sloppy cheeks too. (The answer to "What's the best way to avoid awkward crossed-signals handshake-meets-cheek-kiss encounters?" tells us: anything you're going to do is fine, as long as you telegraph it early, and it's not a fist-pound. That's lame.)

(Like all good NYC blogs, this post is also seen on Scoutsider.com)

Good times always abound in Brooklyn, it seems. I write from the Smith St. station, Williamsburg bound on the G train. Spent the first half of this fine sunny Father's Day Sunday in Park Slope, watching cousin Susie's aerial acrobatics recital. Now I'm headed to the Renegade Crafts Fair, taking place at McCarren Park. Don't worry... I'll have my review posted at Scoutsider in no time.

Happy Father's Day, everyone (especially you, pops).

AS SEEN ON SCOUTSIDER.COM

If you have no art in your apartment and your creative side has atrophied into a twiggy extremity, here are two therapies to get you going down the right path:

The Affordable Art Fair, June 15th – 18th
&
The Renegade Craft Fair, June 17th & 18th

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The fine folks at GenArt alert me: The Affordable Art Fair is the place for new and established collectors to discover and buy paintings, drawings, sculptures, video, photography and limited edition prints from distinguished galleries, all priced from $100 - $5000. This year the Fair will host more than 70 galleries with approximately a quarter of the exhibitors from Europe, Canada and South America.

The Fair will take place at The Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street (btwn. 6th and 7th avenues), but for more info, visit: http://www.aafnyc.com/

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Also, I have a good friend coming in town this weekend for the Renegade Art Fair, which will take place in Brooklyn on the 17th & 18th. The fair will feature over 150 vendors, from D.I.Y. (do it yourself)peeps to more established folks like Venus, the totally gnarly womens 'zine about music, art, film, fashion, and D.I.Y. culture that my friend Emily works for. So, for more information about this fair, check out: http://www.renegadecraft.com/index.php

And make sure you get to one of these... that twigginess must go!

This is for the mighty too. But if you're like me, everything in your closet might as well be rags to your New York friends, and you're in dire need of some hot and fresh threads, or at least a new idea or two. Well, if you are like me, or actually lucky enough to already have your fashion flute in tune, you're in luck! Two great events are coming up next week that you should know about: Shop NYC by GenArt & Design In Motion by the Seniors at The Art Institute of New York.

First Shop:
On Wednesday the 14th, GenArt (I'll post more about this cool organization later) will be having its Shop NYC night. At this event, 40 or so emerging high-end fashion designers - selected by the artfully tasteful folks who run GenArt -- will sell their summer collections at discounted prices to see the entire list of designers, lookie here). You hear that? Hot shit. Discounted prices. Hot shit. Hot shit. If I could spell it slower for you, I would.

Also, check this out: there will be hair styling by Ecru New York, massages by Oasis Day Spa, Manicures from BuffSpa and tasty treats by sweetriot! Yeah... that's all free.

Essentials:
When: Wednedsay, June 14; 6:00 - 10:00pm

Where: The Puck Building; 293 Lafayette Street; (b/w Houston & Prince Streets)

Cost: $20 or free for GenArt members (learn about the membership here).

Perks: Beverages provided by Baileys, Johnnie Walker, POP Champagne, FIJI Water, Ciroc Vodka and Beck's Premier Light.
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Second (Don't Trip!):
On Thursday the 15th, it's amateur night! The Art Institute of New York presents its Senior Fashion Show, which is open to the public. Tickets for this event are $25 for non-students, but it all goes to a good cause and it should be a rockin good time (the pros tend to be a little stuffy in this field). This is a great chance to check some diseñadors before they make the big time.

Essentials:
When: Thursday, June 15; 6:00pm

Where: 101 Ave. of the Americas (6th Ave) between Watts & Grand

Cost: $25 for big kids, $5 for students.

Perk: College kids make you feel old.

"I love beer. Beer, beer, beer. Here it goes down, down into my belly..."
-Me, about 2am last Saturday/Sunday.

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1am sometime a few centuries ago.

I can't say much could have gone better on Saturday night for our little brew pub tour of the East Village. We had beer and I got a cute girl's number. The beer -- staying on topic -- was amazing. Starting at d.b.a., I delighted myself by having a Hoegaarden Witbier. This really did tantalize the tummy, though the beer reached my mouth almost too hot too drink: d.b.a. was so packed it was uncomfortable, and we probably only stayed there as long as we did because it was the first stop and it took a while for the last folks to arrive.
On a frog scale (1 - 4), d.b.a. earned the following score:
Beer quality: 4
Beer selection: 3.5 (so the frog hobbles a little)
Atmosphere: 2
Staff: 2

Next on the tour de bar de hops was old McSorley's. Now, this place is just special. We arrived in a group of 15 and were lucky when the 50 year old Sean Connery wannabe (okay, I know Sean's not Irish) cut our wait time to less than a minute, giving us a table for 8 in the already packed bar. In true American-Irish fashion, we made the foreigners in our group stand. Anyway, three rounds of "dark or light?" beers later we felt we had "had enough" of the McSorley's experience, and left.
On the frog scale:
Beer quality: 2
Beer selection: N/A (bars founded the same year Hard Times began serialisation in Charles Dickens' magazine, Household Words, are exempt from being judged in this category.)
Atmosphere: 4
Staff: 4 (Try plopping down 20 beers at a time. The dude was money. And he didn't even know it!)

We then spent a hot 30 minutes in Burp Castle, just down the street from McSorley's on 7th, between 2nd & 3rd. The beers were great considering the limited selections. The whole abby thing though.... Maybe not such a good idea. I like my beer consumption to be disassociated with my irreligiousness. Anyway, my suggestion: the chocolate beer. Yum like gum!
The frog says:
Beer quality: 4
Beer selection: 2
Atmosphere: 2
Staff: 3 (nice, but doesn't-talk-much-and-only-smiles nice.)

At this point we got impatient. It was getting late, and I there was no reason not to head to our last and most anticipated locale: The Hop Devil Grill. There waiting for us when we arrived was a case of newly minted "Mr. Nate Ale," a first attempt by yours truly to grow booze at home. And it was a success! By night's end we had finished off an entire case of my bad boys, and even the Hop Devil regulars had tried a few (and mostly approved). And while winning the approval of respectfully-snotty beer enthusiasts was a great reward, and also while hearing the rounds of "not bad..." from my Scoutsider friends was pretty cool, and while drinking a number of the Hop Devil Grill's fine fine beers was nice and cool, winning the attention of a particularly and devilishly cute Hop Devil Grill waitress was really fucking nice and cool. Muchachos and muchachas out there: Brewing beer... definitely a good idea.
So, with out much hesitation the Hop Devil Grill rockets itself to the first perfect 4Legger.
Beer quality - 4
Beer selection: 4 (we didn't even get into the Belgian Room, hidden away in the back like a fine wine or a pre-liberation movement wife (also fine)).
Atmosphere: 4
Staff: 4+ (all of them)

THANKS TO ALL YOU PEOPLE FOR COMING OUT SATURDAY NIGHT FOR SCOUTSIDER'S KICK-OFF/INFLATE NATE'S EGO PARTY!!!!!