NYLine Days 8 & 9 - There's no such thing as Luck
Posted by Amit on
Number of people currently in line: 30
Y'know what's cool? Star Wars.
Y'know what's like totally rocking harder than Max Rebo? Lightsabers. I mean, honestly, George Lucas can basically retreat to some outcropping in the planet core and drink Diet Coke for the rest of his life if he wants – he's already come up with the coolest idea for anything that's ever been created anywhere in the history of time. Lightsabers are just really really totally tubular, I can't stress this enough.
Y'know what somehow manages to be even more wizard than all of this? People - and more specifically, Star Wars fans. This past weekend on the line was so much fun I had to write everything that happened on a scrap of paper. And it was sooo much fun that when I finally got back home last night I had to hop right in the oil bath, and deactivate, as I couldn't tear myself away until my joints were almost frozen. And it was soooooooo much fun that when I woke up I was in such a post-line hangover that I forgot my little cheat sheet resulting in me needing to remember everything that happened in the past few days through the wavy haze of Malcolm Jamal-Warner's hair style. And it was soooooooooo much fun that I better get on with it before this thing gets longer than a dianoga tentacle. Suffice to say this weekend was whack. In the good sense. One might also say it was "tricky". Oie Boie, I pity the fool who missed out on waaay too many inside joke formations...
Icky Icky Goo...
I know that these updates seem to turn into entries into my own personal journal, and perhaps this is all just a way to cope with never utilizing some sort of lockable book with "diary" written in glitter on it – nevertheless, this story does have some relevance, however slight. So I'm helping to set up our DSL and power connections right under the Ziegfeld marquee, when I sensed something... a presence I've not felt since....1999 actually. A bird had left a nice big present for me on my Mets cap, the one I've worn at every game I've attended since 1998. Now you might think I was devastated, but my friends, that's not true...it's impossible for me to feel that way for a couple of reasons. One is the fact that I almost NEVER wear my cap when I'm not out at Shea, and that ray shielding really saved my skins when the proton torpedo hit. The other is the fact the only other time I was so bombed was in 1999, in Washington Square Park, the day before the opening of NYLine I. Hmmm...NOTHING happens by accident, right? A good omen if you ask me, and since I can't hear you, I assume that you did. And if getting the royal treatment by a bird is considered good luck, I better go out and by a lotto ticket because not 2 minutes later I'm kneeling on the ground laying down duct tape when a huggable gentlemen lets his 50 pound poodle urinate not 5 feet from my head. I LOVE THIS TOWN!!! Kudos to line member Mark Harvey for taking up my offer of a few extra shift points for cleaning off my hat, by the way.
A vast sea of stars serves as the backdrop...
This Sunday, NBC held its 75th Anniversary, and a whole mess of their celebrities stayed at the Regal Hotel, just down the block from our little home one. Spotted in the area were the aforementioned Malcolm Jamal-Warner and Mr. T, Peter Falk, Jared Leto, Corbin Bernsen (who I unknowingly told to move along, move along, while we were setting up the DSL), and John Ratzenberger, best known for his role as Major Derlin in The Empire Strikes Back (and some other show he did about alchoholism or something). There were many others I think, but they're all on that paper back home. Morris Day might have stopped by, I can't seem to recall. But Yo-Yo Ma DID pass the line!! Who said we don't have Yo-yo's this time?? Hehehehehhehehehehehe. Ouch.
But the biggest thing that happened was Star Wars authors Kevin J. Anderson and his wife Rebecca Moesta dropped in on us, being in town for a book expo. These two have to be the nicest people on the maker's green Earth, as they not only talked to us, and answered Matt Simantov's questions of how George Lucas smells, but also came back the following morning and signed maxi big amounts stuff for us to give away as prizes. Included with that were two advanced reader's copies of Mr. Anderson's next book, which won't be out in stores until July. So rack up those points and raise that money for Starlight, because this stuff can be yours if the price is right!! If you're out there Mr. Anderson and Ms. Moesta, we owe you everything!!! And many thanks to Byron Crystal for driving us around town picking up books for signatures (and not laughing at us because he already saw AOTC), and Jonathan Simantov for his (optimistic) appraisal of the pieces we chose.
No longer A house...
This is a home. We now have an address, 139 West 54th Street. Hopefully pizza delivery people will be somewhat less confused from now on, but I'm still not sure about that. Also, thanks to the generosity of Ben Zook, David Creighton, and the cables of Viktor Lundberg, we are chillaxing with a TV/VCR, DVD, CD setup, and Game Cube. Geez, this place is BETTER than my house actually...Yesterday we broke everything in the only way it could be – all 4 movies, TPM on DVD and the rest, of course, on VHS, cough cough.
Our tent and set-up is starting to feel settled, we've put up some decorations, like cardboard standups that were donated to us by member Michael Benn, and our "Star Wars Fan Only" parking sign was for a while hanging with a bunch of other traffic signs on 54th Street, but we took it down before the police saw it, or it fell on somebody who DIDN'T sign the waiver. I don't care what universe you're from, that would hurt.
Oh, and every house needs a closet with a nice wardrobe, right? (Nice segue there, methinks) On Sunday we started collecting Starlight donations and handing out our incentive shirts. These things look so awesome I bet you Jango would wear it over his high impact armor.
It was just before Dawn...
Hmmm...the less said about overnights the better. These things are havens for people to make strange jokes and get even stranger phone calls from stalkers who seem to know what we look like. Enjoy your sleep Victor Merced, just remember that somebody out there is watching you! On Saturday night, line member Rob Lacey dropped in with almost $60 worth of groceries, including (Star Wars marked) Frito Lay products, Pepsi, Frappucinos, 7 Up, Water, and the sweet nectar of the gods, Mountain Dew. He told us he was staying for an hour, and just wanted to drop off his money order. He left some time around 4 in the afternoon the next day. I'm sorry folks but there is no lever to get the NYLine tractor beam out of commission!!
Well, a lot of other stuff happened too, but this is already too long, and all of this talk is making me want to get back there real quick, so I'm going back to the line now!! But the main point I wanted to make was how great our line members have been. Through all the crazy weather, always helping to raise money for Starlight (we made over $160 on Saturday night from passersby), you guys are the miggidy mack!!! Cooler than Lando! I mentioned just some of the people who've made sacrifices for us above. Member Jozeph Salhab was even selling off parts of his own collection to raise more money for the charity! THAT's some dedication of people with the deepest commitment!! I just hope this is as much fun for you guys as it is for me! And if you haven't dropped by yet, please do!! ALWAYS a pleasure to meet a jedi!