Matt Rubano’s Birthday Party, Bowlmor Lanes/Pianos, NYC. 3/10/08
It’s 6:15 pm and I still feel sick. Ugh. I feel like tequila is seeping through my pores and I’m getting drunk and sick again from the fumes, and on my toilet are the dried remains of puke — presumably mine — from last night. How did this happen?
Oh, I’ll tell you how.
Yesterday, a bunch of friends got together at Bowlmor Lanes bowling alley in Union Square, NYC, to celebrate our dear friend Matt Rubano’s birthday. Little Matt plays in Taking Back Sunday, and is therefore a bit more well off than his other friends, and was kind enough to foot the bill for the whole thing — the lanes, the shoes, the drinks the food. Matt is one of the sweetest, most generous friends I have. All his friends love him, and not just cos he pays for shit, but because he’s really fucking funny and fun to hang out with and has a killer six pack.
So my boyfriend and I show up at the bowling alley and I proceed to sign up for my turn, and then find out that there’s no cake for Matt, so I immediately sneak out and find my best friend KarenPlusOne on the street walking over to the party. I grab her and say “Let’s go to whole foods and get Matt a cake!” We get the cake and return to the party… check out Karen’s amazing handy work on the cake. It says “Happy Bday Jewbano”… Jewbano is his nickname, because, well, he is a Jew.
JennyPenny had been bowling in my spot and did a pretty great job. I, however, havent bowled since 1999, so I tanked and knocked zero pins my first time up at bat or whatever you call it. BUT, i fared much better when I bowled following that, usually knocking down 9 out of 10 pins! How you like me now, i’m a natural! I was a natural until the second margarita set in and I started falling to the ground from the force of the release of the ball from my hands. I think I’m pretty bruised up, actually.
My Score… i’m the second S.
Check out my form! I’m a natural:
The Party People:
Matt up at bat:
Brandon Reilly from Nightmare of You and Mark Holmes:
Karen is way better at jumping than bowling:
During the last round, Antony Ellis from the Five O’Clock Heroes got up and managed to get three strikes in a row! How amazing is that? Watch him do it:
Our lanes were reserved until 11pm, and so afterwards we all (well, most of us), naturally went down to Pianos to indulge in a little Karaoke. I think that this is when I messed up because I vaguely remember drinking a vodka soda, then dropping it, and instead of taking that as my cue that maybe I shouldn’t drink anymore, I just went up to the bar, threw down my card, and decided to keep a tab open and get another…. which was convenient when I accidently knocked over some girls’ beer (which was on the floor, so not totally my fault), and offered to buy her a new one.
I need a baby sitter sometimes.
At one point, Jenny and I got up to perform a Taking Back Sunday song … the one that’s like “to hell with you and all your friends.” We were AWFUL. Matt laughed it off, because he knows how we all roll. If you’re in a band, and with us at karaoke, we will perform your song… as long as it’s in the book. Which, the past two times it has been.
Anyway,…
Here are some videos of Matt and Brian Battjer, the best karaoke-er i know, performing Meat Loaf’s “Paradise By the Dashboard Light”:
