If last night’s MGMT concert was prologue to what’s in store this Halloween weekend. Holy. Toledo.
Dressed handsomely as a mariachi band, they put a hurting on Webster Hall in NYC last night. I scored a ticket last minute, because somebody wanted to go see Philadelphia burn. Sports and Rock n’ Roll converge, and everybody wins. It’s a beautiful thing.
Check out the song that got this band signed, Kids. Got to battle horrendous fan vocal stylings (from what sounds like a singular douche, possibly the same guy with camera) – par for the course with in-crowd videos. The highlight comes about 3:00 minutes in; I’ll give you a hint: it’s shredding.
If anyone gets their hands on photos or the cover of ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’, send it my way!
The show’s card featured white collar pugilists from some of (if not all of what’s left of) the big firms in the city dukeing it out in front of a crowd that popped for tickets ranging from $125 to $10,000. The event raised money for Youth Village in Rwanda and Tuesday’s Children, which helps families of 9/11 victims.
Each year hundreds of thousands apply to be amongst the 10,000 or so chosen to compete in the New York City Marathon, a race that draws close to 2 million course-side spectators. On race day, most of the onlookers aren’t there to see the perfect heartrate contol of some Kenyan, but to support everyday guys like Dan Vallejo and Jeff Crowell. Friends since high school, Jeff and Dan – both in their mid-twenties – made a pact that this is the year they conquer the marathon. I traded emails with the guys to talk about the upcoming race, and their marathon charity website WeAreNotAthletes.com.
Fellas, In stark contrast to how most average guys live their lives, you are on the verge of actually following through and completing a life challenge. What I need to know is, can you give me an example of an endeavor where you came up short in a fashion that so many of us have grown use to and apathetic by…?
Jeff: To be honest, we originally talked about running the Marathon last year and never followed through with it for whatever reasons. It’s one thing to talk about doing something like this, but when it comes down to actually ‘pulling the trigger’ and making the decision, it can be easy to make up excuses and not follow through. So this year, we decided that we were going to run the Race, but in our own way, and that’s where the idea for [the website] originated. We wanted to provide an engaging way for our friends and family to get more involved in our training, our fundraising and the race.
Your website promoting the race is called We Are Not Athletes. You are a year into your brutal training regime, and if that were entirely true you would surely either be dead or in some decrepit state. What is your most impressive athletic achievement from your past? Mine was winning the town Little League championship when I was 12 (I’m now 24…)
DAN: It’s a toss up between winning the New England Regatta for men’s crew in high school or holding the high score in photo hunt for a couple of hours.
I’ve heard varied advice for racers post-marathon – ranging from your not supposed to drink, to don’t even try to walk. What is the point in doing something like this, if there is no bruhaha when you’re done? Can you shed some light here?
Jeff: They say you’re supposed to walk for at least 20 minutes after the race. If I can still stand by the time I finish, I’ll probably try to walk for a bit, have some water, then most certainly have a celebratory beer with my friends and family. I mean, how could you not have a beer after completing the NYC Marathon? Guess we’ll see how it goes though.
There’s a place your bets option on WeAreNotAthletes.com. I like this, because it reflects my personal code that in life, gambling is almost always a viable option. Care to elaborate on how this works?
Dan: Who doesn’t like a good competition? We added the place your bets functionality to make the site more interactive and engaging for anyone visiting. The way it works is simple, you enter the time in which you think Jeff or I will complete the race and this number is averaged along with every other bet placed during the last couple of weeks, the updated number is reflected in the race time estimates on the home page. As of today Jeff is predicted to be a little faster than me, I can assure you that will not be the case on race day.
Let me read you the first sentence of Ryan Reynolds story, ‘Why I’m Running the New York City Marathon’,from The Huffington Post: A couple of years ago, I walked uptown to Central Park on one of those perfect November days. The air had a bite to it while the sun shone bright! (guh…) What kind of retribution will you rain down (on behalf of the people) if you see him on the course?
Dan: So the tone of the quote is a bit cheesy, but I can’t knock it too hard, as I am a huge fan of Just Friends. Everyone has their own reason for running 26.2 miles, you could put together a very interesting reel of all the different reasons and causes people run the NYC Marathon for. Parkinson’s disease research is a great cause to be running for and if that is Ryan Reynold’s, than I support it. When I smoke him on the course I will give him a Van Wilder shout out.
(Indeed, to be fair Reynolds is running as a tribute to his father. This question was merely a bitter jab on my part, directly related to Reynolds locking up Scarlet Johannson. Why did you make me do it, Reynolds? Why?)
As someone who plans to join in the raceday festivities, but is only up for about 20 minutes of watching exasperated people scurry by, breathing like a herd of wounded wildebeest before I move on and start celebrating on your behalf, optimum location?
Jeff: Well, the Finish at Tavern on the Green in Central Park will be very exciting for starters. From what I hear, it seems as though another great spot to watch the race from is on 59th and 1st by the Queensboro Bridge. At the 16th mile, it’s the pivotal point in the race where you can really see the effect the Marathon has on everyone. First Avenue, in general, will be a great spot to cheer on all the runners though, and join in on the race day festivities.
Dan: If you are in Manhattan, First Avenue is the most rowdy and the most fun location to watch the race from. Bar Coastal is on 78th and first and probably will be where we direct our friends to stand and cheer. Just don’t be one of those people offering the runners doughnuts and cigarettes, we don’t appreciate it.
Jeff and Dan’s hit the five borough course of the ING NYC Marathon next Sunday, Nov. 2nd. They didn’t have to say it, but I got the impression this interview gave them the added boost they were looking for to get through the last few weeks of training. Don’t mention it guys.
So far, Jeff and Dan have raised close to $6,000 for the American Cancer Society and Hole in the Wall Camps, which was founded by Paul Newman and is the world’s largest family of camps for children with serious illnesses and life-threatening conditions.
Go to WeAreNotAthletes.com to make a donation, and check out Jeff and Dan’s training video below…
The Roller Derby Revival gets cooler everyday. And if you don’t agree with me, I assure you I’m correct.
Just last weekend, a team from New York City called the Gotham Girls All-Stars competed in the Eastern Regional Championships at the Derby in Dairyland, in Madison, WI. Not only have they embraced Batman’s nom de guerre for NYC, but they won the tournament, so apparently they’re dirty.
Giving it its due recognition, COEDMagazine.com pieced together a photo album that shows the softer side of hell on wheels. Here are some of the goodies…
…they actually explained Walsh’s shoulder during the broadcast, but I was distracted by the athletic grace and superior team chemistry. (and the booty-action)
It’s been an upwardly mobile few years for MGMT. It’d be irresponsible not to also embed girls in bikinis getting their slip n’ slide on, which also happened at the McCarren Park pool yesterday.
Friday night, I went to an event that was described to me prior as a midget bullfight where free tequila would be served. It wasn’t so much that I wanted to go, as that I felt morally responsible to.
Is bullfighting even legal in New York!? I thought, as we made our way out to this spectacle. It was out by the Brooklyn Bridge; I presumed at some abandoned warehouse where I would be frisked for weapons and contraband on the way in. Maybe there would be reckless gambling involved!
Turns out there were no bulls. No midgets! The event was actually a book release party at a harmless bookstore (read: no abandoned warehouse, no gambling whatsoever). Thankfully, the free tequila was not a myth, and we drank that liquid opium in the children’s section and read Where The Wild Things Are.
The party was for the release of Enanitos Toreros by Livia Corona. She spent almost a decade living in Mexico at a dwarf colony, the residents of which are huge bullfighting enthusiasts, see for yourself:
Other celebrities (Wu-Tang members?) are expected to play, as well as two-time American Women’s Chess Champion Jennifer Shahade. The Wuchess.com blog claims that the ‘Wuchess Team’ will making an appearance.
Jennifer Shahade
Also participating will be 2-3 scholarship chess players from local schools. All proceeds go to benefit 9queens – a national nonprofit organization dedicated to extending the benefits of chess to under-served and under-represented populations.
I used to wreck house in Battle Chess on original Nintendo. There is no question I would get it handed to me here.
Pearl Jam was scheduled to come on at 8:45. They were on the stage, full-bore, at 8:45. And they stayed there for practically three hours. The intermission was barely long enough for me to go pee.
It was about :38 seconds into the show before Eddie Vedder’d the mic
This was the first time I dabbled in arena rock since the U2 Elevation Tour in 2002. At first, I was little apprehensive about my seating location – behind the stage. But it was actually pretty cool, and you get a real sense for the spell that Eddie Vedder has over the crowd. Mike McCready could have his guitar propped up on his shoulder blades shredding, and if Eddie crept back stage for a smoke the sections around me went ballistic for him. I also had a great view of Eddie getting booze from the crew. (it was sort of a well-oiled, assembly line of stagehands feeding him bottles of Moet).
The highlight of the show for me was hands-down when they closed the first set with ‘Do The Evolution’, which they dedicated to George Carlin. If anybody has this video, I IMPLORE you to post it to YouTube. Here’s the setlist (via Stereogum):
01 “Hard To Imagine” 02 “Save You” 03 “Why Go?” 04 “All Night” 05 “Corduroy” 06 “Faithfull” 07 “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town” 08 “Down” 09 “Unemployable” 10 “Given To Fly” 11 “Who You Are” 12 “Whipping” 13 “1/2 Full” 14 “Even Flow” 15 “Present Tense” 16 “Daughter” (with the Rangers chant!) 17 “Do The Evolution” —- 18 “Love Reign O’er Me” 19 “W.M.A.” 20 “Leash” 21 “Spin The Black Circle” 22 “Wasted Reprise” 23 “Porch” —- 24 “No More” 25 “Crazy Mary” 26 “Comatose” 27 “I Believe In Miracles” (with CJ Ramone on bass) 28 “Alive” —- 29 “All Along The Watchtower” 30 “Indifference”
