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chris a + me

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chris a + me
Met up with this guy...
the june roundup
June, 2012
chris a + me
Me, David K, Grizza and Chris the Greek.
welcome back grant party
February 26, 2004
chris a + me
Grant, Grant's lil' hat, Chris, Frank and me.
welcome back grant party
February 26, 2004
chris a + me
After we finished eating, the plan was for Emma and Lorelei to call and say that we should meet them at the Sunburned Cow, a bar all the way over on Avenue C. We'd try to arrive right at 10pm, and everyone would jump out yell "Surprise!" (hopefully both surprising Grant and scaring the living shit out of him simutaneously).
grant's surprise party
November 07, 2003
chris a + me
Fire up iTunes and here cue up Crüe's "Home Sweet Home." Awww, yeah.
european vacation part 21: heading home!
November 01, 2003
chris a + me
Here's Chris and Fatty back at my apartment getting ready to head back to their respective homes - so ends our journey.

Between the three of us that had cameras, we managed to take just over 2,000 pictures which I edited down to 21 entries comprised of exactly 790 photos. And so it's with these last few words that I end the European Vacation Series (which is by far, the longest diary project I've ever undertaken). Back to life in NYC!
european vacation part 21: heading home!
November 01, 2003
chris a + me
With one final pic of the fantasic four, we said goodbye to Grant (who was staying behind in London for another couple of days) and....
european vacation part 21: heading home!
November 01, 2003
chris a + me
Shuttlebus from the rental car drop-off to the terminal.
european vacation part 21: heading home!
November 01, 2003
chris a + me
Saturday morning we woke up, double checked our packed bags, thanked Grant's parents for their hospitality, and hit the road for Heathrow.
european vacation part 21: heading home!
November 01, 2003
chris a + me
Here's another one. This one's my pensive and artsy "I'm acting like the camera's not there, but clearly I must know it is because I'm the one who took the picture" picture. Who's more emo than me? Motherfuck this photo diary nonsense, I'm gonna get me a LiveJournal. (ps - look at the two cutey patooties passed out next to me like little sleeping lambs. Teeheehee.)
european vacation part 21: heading home!
November 01, 2003
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Saturday, Chris was in town and the four of us got together for brunch at 9th Street Market to reminisce about our recent hijinx in Europe.
the november roundup
November, 2003
chris a + me
The only question I have is how did we not get beat up? Look at us.
european vacation part 20: halloween in bas vegas, baby!
October 31, 2003
chris a + me
We posed for one last group photo before all going our separate ways. Let's hear it for Halloween 2003. Wooooo!
european vacation part 20: halloween in bas vegas, baby!
October 31, 2003
chris a + me
Grant was standoffish at first....
european vacation part 19: a day in essex
October 31, 2003
chris a + me
....ARCADE TIME! (Look at Grant and Chris peeking out in the background. Hahaha).
european vacation part 19: a day in essex
October 31, 2003
chris a + me
...we arrived safely and without incident (save a slight yelling match between Grant and the rest of the passengers in the car who politely asked him if he would "SLOW THE FUCK DOWN SO DON'T HYDROPLANE OFF THE ROAD AND DIE FOR FUCK'S SAKE!") at Grant's parent's home and celebrated with some stiff drinks...
european vacation part 18: leaving crete.
October 30, 2003
chris a + me
Despite all of my SUSPICIOUS CAMERA ACTIVITY I somehow managed to make it aboard the plane. Wait, where's the Fatty?
european vacation part 18: leaving crete.
October 30, 2003
chris a + me
We bid our lovely condo a fond farewell and piled into our sweet, lil' rental one last time.
european vacation part 18: leaving crete.
October 30, 2003
chris a + me
Once in the airport, we grabbed a quick slice...
european vacation part 18: leaving crete.
October 30, 2003
chris a + me
With a fistfulla cone, we bid a last fond-farewell to Rethymnon.
european vacation part 17: the melidoni caves.
October 29, 2003
chris a + me
After fucking around for too long in Bali, we ended up having to make the 35 minute trip back to our condo at dusk (freezing our asses off the whole way). After dropping the bikes off and picking up our car, we headed to a nearby restaurant for an early dinner.
european vacation part 17: the melidoni caves.
October 29, 2003
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Once quick CHiPs-inspired coldlamp with the scooter...
european vacation part 16: scootering again.
October 29, 2003
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Seasoned veterans at this point in the trip, we even managed to drink our raki without so much as a grimmace. Opa! Opa!
european vacation part 15: relaxing.
October 28, 2003
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If you look closely, you can just barely see Grant peeking out between me and Fatty.
european vacation part 15: relaxing.
October 28, 2003
chris a + me
After a few songs I gave up and headed back to our table on the sidelines to coldlamp with my boys.
european vacation part 14: the buddha cafe.
October 27, 2003
chris a + me
Looky, looky! What's going on here in this picture? After Grant was done giving her the "See, aren't we fun guys?" photo review, she quickly cozied up to tha Grizza.
european vacation part 14: the buddha cafe.
October 27, 2003
chris a + me
We chatted Michael up for a few minutes and after we'd established a rapport, I asked him if I had any shot with his cute friend and he replied (please make sure you read the next sentence in your best Balki from "Perfect Strangers" voice) "Don' be ree-deek-you-los!"
european vacation part 14: the buddha cafe.
October 27, 2003
chris a + me
Throwing down for the cam.
european vacation part 14: the buddha cafe.
October 27, 2003
chris a + me
Yaaaaay, Amstel.
european vacation part 14: the buddha cafe.
October 27, 2003
chris a + me
With the leather-panted Gunther giving us the stinkeye from across the table we took a view pictures more pics without her in the background to try to throw him off our perv trail. By the way, ever notice how stuff like Coke, ketchup and McDonalds always taste not-so-great overseas? Well with beer, it works the other way around. The beer we are drinking is Amstel. (not Amstel light, regular Amstel) Maybe it was the crisp sea breeze or the abundance of badobnkadonk butts out there but it was hands down one of the best beers I've ever had.
european vacation part 13: steak dinner.
October 27, 2003
chris a + me
The camera never lies. That's why the picture is blurred. But turn down a complimentary digestif in Greece and you might get your ass handed to you along with the check. Looks like we have some shots to drink. Oh well, here's to minimal liver damage.
european vacation part 13: steak dinner.
October 27, 2003
chris a + me
It was right at this wall where we received our first bit of exciting news: That the tour's almost over
european vacation part 12: knossos ruins.
October 27, 2003
chris a + me
Aw, yeah. Let's hear it for culture.
european vacation part 12: knossos ruins.
October 27, 2003
chris a + me
The beginning of sunset.
european vacation part 11: caves of matala.
October 26, 2003
chris a + me
Here's us bright and early out on our front porch enjoying a breakfast of Greek yogurt and granola. Mmmmmmmm. (ps - what's up, busted dudes in the morning?)
european vacation part 10: agia gahlini.
October 26, 2003
chris a + me
After our busy day of swimming and napping, we headed over to one of the nearby beach restaurants for some lunch. Chris and me.
european vacation part 10: agia gahlini.
October 26, 2003
chris a + me
We wandered the streets for almost an hour trying to decide on where we wanted to eat (ok, trying to find the place that had the most hot girls dining there). The problem was, there was so many restaurants (and so many hot girls) that we couldn't make up our minds. Finally, as we neared the point of collapse from hunger, we were courted by this dude, Kostas Vallasso, and he was so friendly and funny that we decided to eat as his place.
european vacation part 9: dinner with kostas vallassos.
October 25, 2003
chris a + me
Hungry boys.
european vacation part 9: dinner with kostas vallassos.
October 25, 2003
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Afterwards we walked around the surrounding area...
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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We parked our bikes and Chris and I set out on foot to check it out.
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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While Chris and I goofed around with our cameras,
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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Heltmets? Check. We had originally planned on driving west to a nearby city called Hania but when we looked more carefully at the map, we realized it was over 75 km away (which is really far by scooter). So we instead decided to head to Balí, a small beach town about 35 km away.
european vacation part 8: scooter madness!
October 25, 2003
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After a quick lesson from Chris, Grant wowed us all with his ability to do the "It's Windy!" trick!
european vacation part 7: first day in crete!.
October 24, 2003
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After our quick half-time show, we decided to try our luck in one more bar. Upon returning from the bathroom upstairs, Fatty actually managed to capture with his camera the Force Field that was physically preventing all girls from seeing us (nevermind actually letting them get close enough to dance with us). Once he showed us this pic, we knew we'd better just call it a night.
european vacation part 7: first day in crete!.
October 24, 2003
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Chris opted for the old "Sure is windy here in Crete!" trick by hanging horizontally from the "Child Molester Zone" sign pole we'd seen earlier.
european vacation part 7: first day in crete!.
October 24, 2003
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Not wanting to make me feel bad, Chris was quick to throw down with a quick "See, not only pussies have to hang from window?" show of solidarity. What a fuggin guy, eh?
european vacation part 7: first day in crete!.
October 24, 2003
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Around midnight, we finally got motivated enough to all hop into the car and drive into downtown Rethymnon. We sat at an outdoor cafe right on the water, had some coffee and chocolate cake, then around 1am we started roaming the streets looking for some interesting bars or clubs to hit.
european vacation part 7: first day in crete!.
October 24, 2003
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Live Show gets the thumbsdown! Here's us in the parking lot trying to assess the financial damage. Our four Russian "strippers" managed to fleece the four of us for a grand total of €120 in less than 20 minutes! And we still didn't manage to see any heines! We hopped in the car to drive the remaing 1/4 mile back to our resort, and in the moment of silence after we were finished laughing hysterically at what had just happened we all heard Grant say quietly to himself: "Hmmmmm. A hundred Euros, eh?" Hahahahaha.
european vacation part 7: first day in crete!.
October 24, 2003
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On the way back to the car a little after 3am, we found another sidewalk snack shop and decided to get something to eat. We all ended up ordering the Cretan equivalent of (my favorite bo-bo NYC food) the infamous Rosario's "Frankie and Cheese." (special shout out to the Crowley brothers, Dens & J Crowley, who have both frequently use their web pages to expound upon the most excellent deliciousness of this culinary wonder of the Lower East Side)
european vacation part 7: first day in crete!.
October 24, 2003
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Here we are, four dudes surrounded by nothing but totally hot women from a Greek island who want to have NOTHING TO DO WITH US. Liberia's got nothing on us, THIS is hell on earth.
european vacation part 7: first day in crete!.
October 24, 2003
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...the center emergency row! Let's hear it for extra leg room. Awww, yeah.
european vacation part 6: sightseeing with the stoddards .
October 23, 2003
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...and grabbed the train to Heathrow to catch our 10:20pm flight and kick off the next leg of the trip: Crete!
european vacation part 6: sightseeing with the stoddards .
October 23, 2003
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...and a light schhhhnack.
european vacation part 6: sightseeing with the stoddards .
October 23, 2003
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After that, we hopped back onto the tube, headed back to Charlene's flat...
european vacation part 6: sightseeing with the stoddards .
October 23, 2003
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Hi, we're tourists.
european vacation part 6: sightseeing with the stoddards .
October 23, 2003
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Then it was back to more sightseeing. Clark: "Look kids! Big Ben!"
european vacation part 6: sightseeing with the stoddards .
October 23, 2003
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Our schtick was apparently so convincing that they even seated us in one of the cool private rooms in the back (that we ended up sharing with Tony Chambers, the Creative Director for Wallpaper Magazine. Oooooooooh! Fancy!)
european vacation part 5: reunited with grant.
October 22, 2003
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London being London, it started raining just a few minutes after we got off the tube. We looked around for umbrellas and these were the only ones we could find. "Haaaaaaaaaaaay!"
european vacation part 5: reunited with grant.
October 22, 2003
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Fatty grabbed this pic of us too busy eating to look up. (Oh, and Charlene was with us too but for some reason she's hiding in all these pics!).
european vacation part 5: reunited with grant.
October 22, 2003
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Reunited! Grant had been in LA working on a TV show and we hadn't seen him in about a month. He arrived in London in the morning and woke our asses up. We showered, got dressed, and headed around the corner to a "builder's diner" right around the corner from her flat and we all ordered...
european vacation part 5: reunited with grant.
October 22, 2003
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Group shot.
european vacation part 5: reunited with grant.
October 22, 2003
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So in the course of shooting the shit with Tony Chambers, it came up that we had wanted to sing karaoke that night but that the only place that we knew of had already closed. Tony leaned in close and in a conspirital tone told us about a private, karaoke speakeasy he knew of that operated afterhours on the second floor of a tiny, nearby sushi bar. After promising we'd keep it secret, he disclosed to us the location. (Looking back, he was probably just totally psyched to have our loud, American, clearly NOT VIP-asses out of his little private, members only backroom!)
european vacation part 5: reunited with grant.
October 22, 2003
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In order to get from the parking lot to the actual building that surrounds the spa, you have to walk this long path that cuts through piles of lava rock.
european vacation part 3: the blue lagoon
October 21, 2003
chris a + me
At this point not only were we ridiculously over tired, we were drunk taboot. We pleaded for Charlene to take us home and put us to bed.
european vacation part 4: london & ac/dc
October 21, 2003
chris a + me
GRANT! It was one thing for Lil' Buddy to miss out on Iceland, but a free, surprise concert of his favorite live band? That was just too much.
european vacation part 4: london & ac/dc
October 21, 2003
chris a + me
Chris and me. (Oh yeah, and this is an ACDC concert so prepare yourself to see nothing but tongues and "metal horns" in the rest of these pics. Sorry, I don't make the rules, I just follow them).
european vacation part 4: london & ac/dc
October 21, 2003
chris a + me
Charlene called her friend Layla (who works for the company that promotes Carling Beer)...
european vacation part 4: london & ac/dc
October 21, 2003
chris a + me
7:54pm: We arrived at Heathrow totally cracked out. We were so tired that we decided that we were going to tell Charlene that we were up for maybe grabbing one drink but then after that we needed to get some sleep. (Time Elapsed With Only 15 minutes of Sleep: 28h 24m)
european vacation part 4: london & ac/dc
October 21, 2003
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Look at our cold, red, saltwater-irritated faces. Ouchie.
european vacation part 3: the blue lagoon
October 21, 2003
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Here's Chris and I trying our best to not look cold for a photo. We didn't want to pack a whole bunch of winter clothers that we'd only be using for a half-day in Iceland so all we had with us to fend of the 4°C temperatures (about 39°F) were our light jackets.
european vacation part 2: reykjavik, iceland.
October 21, 2003
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...and then the realization that we were actually IN ICELAND hit us. Iceland! Oh, snap.
european vacation part 2: reykjavik, iceland.
October 21, 2003
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Miraculously, he managed to avoid getting a ticket (but he did accidentally lock himself out of the car...Doh!). We thanked him for the tour (it's still one of the nicest things a stranger has ever done for me - so Smari, if you read this, thanks again!) and then told him that we were thinking about checking out the Blue Lagoon on the way back to catch our flight but that the lady at the rental car place had seemed underwhelmed when we asked her about it. Smari told us "Fuck that lady. If there's only one thing you could see in Iceland, it should be the Blue Lagoon. Don't miss it. Go there now." That settled it. We bid Smari farewell, and headed for Grindavik.
european vacation part 2: reykjavik, iceland.
October 21, 2003
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6:40am (local time and still pitch black out). We spent the hour-long drive into Reykjavik betting on what time the sun would rise. Price Is Right rules in effect: the one who managed to come closest, without going over would be declared the winner. It was then agreed upon that the winner would get to make out with Gemma, Grant's hot little sister, (mmmmmm....Gemma) when we stopped at Grant's parent's house in Essex on the last leg of our trip. But then we all remembered that Gemma had a boyfriend. (Booooo).
european vacation part 2: reykjavik, iceland.
October 21, 2003
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And look, I even managed to figure out how to take a half-decent pic of myself, which was no easy task, because it's a big, heavy, digital SLR that you have to hold with a side-grip. (Which is why I've got that weird "looks like I'm pooping" expression on my face.)
european vacation part 1: leaving nyc
October 20, 2003
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8:30pm: We got our boarding call. Here's Fatty's picture of me...
european vacation part 1: leaving nyc
October 20, 2003
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We breezed through security and made it to our gate just a little past 6pm (which gave us just over 2 hours to kill). We grabbed a snack in the cafeteria, read a bit and (what else?) goofed out and took pictures. (Chris and I had both just gotten new cameras so we spent a lot of time familiarizing ourselves with how to use them.
european vacation part 1: leaving nyc
October 20, 2003
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Before getting in the cab, we neurotically checked to make sure we had our passports with us for the 11th time. You know, just in case one of us had somehow managed to loose it on the 25ft trek from Fatty's apartment to the street.
european vacation part 1: leaving nyc
October 20, 2003
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4:13pm: Outside of Fatty's apartment, bags all packed and double-checked we coldlamped for one last photo before hailing a cab.
european vacation part 1: leaving nyc
October 20, 2003
chris a + me
Saturday night Grant made reservations for the Über-fancy restaurant, Suba. The food was so pretty, that our entries all merritted us all posing with them.
saturday park dinner at suba and karaoke
June 28, 2003
chris a + me
Here's Chris (doing his impression of Robin Williams) and me giving mad props to our deep-friend cinamonny-doughnut thingy that was filled with chocolate and so kicked all the other desserts' palsy asses.
saturday park dinner at suba and karaoke
June 28, 2003
chris a + me
Look! It's the ARMY OF DUDES. Can seven guys get into a nightclub on Friday night with only one female?
coney island then plaid
June 27, 2003
chris a + me
After a shower and a nap, we headed out later on in the evening to meet up with Chris Apostalou for dinner at Lovely Day...
coney island then plaid
June 27, 2003
chris a + me
Nina, Grant and ChrisTheGreek.
nerve make-out party
February 21, 2002
chris a + me
Chris, Nina, Grant "I Did it for Science" Stoddard, me. (BTW, ever notice that as soon as I get a few drinks in me, okay more than a few, I have my mouth open in every photo? 1 in a series of 3.)
nerve celebrates its hbo tv show
January 19, 2002
I edited together this montage of some choice cuts of the hits from the evening. (My favorite moment is Fatty's expression at 3:20) Enjoy! Track listing:
1. Christmas Wrapping
2. I Can't Go for That
3. Christmas Wrapping (part 2)
4. Head Over Heels
5. Plush
6. Peace on Earth / Ziggy Stardust
7. Let's Go
8. Fairytale Of New York
9. Creep
10. Don't You Want Me
11. Do They Know It's Christmas?
the december roundup
December, 2015