Okay I've been back a few weeks now but have been swamped at work and quite ill too so I've been putting this together quite slowly!..
EDIT: Update - since I'm doing the Clerks II banner competition I've got even less free time than usual but the photos are coming - promise!
Day 1 (Thursday)
Okay so I arrived in New York on the Thursday afternoon and even though I was wiped out I tried to stay up as late as possible which I managed to do by just walking all around the Times Square area and taking it all in! I also stumbled upon a place called Midtown Comics which was the best comic shop I have ever been in in my life - and it wasn't even on my list of places to visit! Eventually tiredness kicked in and I went back to the hotel and slept like a log!
Day 2 (Friday)
The next morning I woke up incredibly early - I think it was around 5:30am so I had a shower and a shave and headed off to Central Park which was just incredible! I spent a good few hours walking again and I walked about two thirds of the length of the Park which, if you know how big that place is, is pretty impressive!
I then headed over to Bloomingdales to get Little Brown Bags for my Mum and Sister! Whilst there I had a quick look in the Men's Department and found an awesome Doors "Morrison Hotel" t-shirt in this line of vintage/retro shirts! I'm not the kinda guy who usually gets excited about clothes but I was just very very happy about my new purchase!
That night I was going to see Miles Hunt perform in a place called Crash Mansion (you may remember me saying that Miles is my favourite musician and he announced this gig after I booked my trip which seemed like fate that I had to attend) but as I only had a rough idea where it was I went down there early. After walking around for a long time I eventually found it and then went and grabbed a bite to eat - after killing some time I got to the club early and after chatting with some people at the bar I went to sit down only to see Miles sitting with a small group of friends in the otherwise practically empty club! I figured this could be my one opportunity to actually speak to him and after some mental deliberation I did just that. What I didn't account for was how fuckin' nervous I was... seriously I was shaking and I look totally out of place in the photo I had taken with him.
Miles was splitting his set with Michael Ferentino (a regular collaborator of Miles) and just before he went on Miles' girlfriend came over and asked me if I'd like to sit with everyone else. I said no at first because I felt it may have been awkward but she insisted and so I moved over to their group. It then turns out that I'd been speaking to Michael's wife, Joie, at the bar so at least I sort of knew someone! Anyway both Michael and Miles kick-ass and after their set they decide to move the party over to another bar - they ask me to join them and by now I've had enough drinks to just accept the invitation! It's at the bar that I actually get to do something I never dreamed of... I got to just hang out and get very very drunk with Miles! I also met lots of other great people including another musician called Sport Johnson (who's now on my list of artists to check out).
Anyway after the party the group disperse and Joie mentions they're going to a burlesque show... well I don't have anything better to do so I tag along and on the way tell her & Michael a bit about Suicide Girls (they'd heard of the site but never visited it). The burlesque show is very entertaining and I get even more drunk! Thankfully I get a ride back to the hotel from a great guy called Doc and as soon as I get to the room I just fall asleep straight away!
Day 3 (Saturday)
The next morning I waste almost an entire day to nursing my hangover but I'll be damned if I wasn't grinning like a fool the whole time even though I felt like my head was going to explode!
That afternoon I meet up with my friend Adam (who is also going to Vulgarthon) and we end up in Best Buy where he gets a great deal on a surround sound system that we need to come back and pick up the next day (and where I buy too many DVDs... luckily Adam lends me a portable DVD player so I can watch some of them later). He also shows me around a bit as he's lived in New York for a while - it's always better to have a local on hand when you're in a new city!
That night we meet up with another Vulgarthon attendee, Daniel, and we go to see "X-Men: The Last Stand"... which completely blows! But we do get to see the trailer for Clerks II on a huge screen and it gets big laughs from the audience - which is a great sign!
After the movie we all decide to call it a night so I get my only early night of the whole trip! I grab some food and some beer and watch some of the DVDs I bought until I fall asleep!
Day 4 (Sunday)
I have to meet Adam again to help him out at Best Buy and decide to leave early so I can grab a burger or two at Wendys (because quite frankly they're the best burgers in the world)! Unfortunately because it's early Sunday morning none of them are open and I go hungry!
We manage to get Adam's surround sound system back to his office (several blocks away!) in a shopping trolley - which was fun! And then the rest of the day is basically more sight seeing and shopping - again it was cool to have a local as a guide as he took me to areas that I probably never would have got to myself because they're not really touristy (lots of second-hand / indie kinda shops).
Later in the day we head back to Broadway to see "Monty Python's Spamalot: The Musical!" - back when I first new I was making this trip I bought two tickets online. It was expensive but they were great seats and, even though all of big names have now left (I knew Tim Curry had left but I thought David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria where still in it), I still really enjoyed it (so much so that I'd like to see the version coming to London later this year)! It made me laugh because Adam was excited that Tim Curry's replacement was the guy who played the Mayor on Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I think he was the only person in the whole theatre who knew who he was!
Day 5 (Monday)
It's my last day in New York - I take one final walk around the Times Square area. I eventually check out of the hotel, meet Daniel and we get the train to Jersey! Whilst on the train we meet Adam who is taking Paige to Jersey as it's her first time there and when we get off the train we see Simon (who's from Ireland) also getting off the train! We all get together and head off to Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash (Kevin's comic shop that also has a ton of props from the movies on display) to pick up our tickets. We then head off to a nearby pub to get something to eat and have a few drinks - we get there to discover another twenty or so Vulgarthon attendees (a nice mixture of old and new friends)! Already it feels like I'm back with my second-family!
Days 6-9 (Tuesday-Friday)
Okay this little diary is getting long and quite frankly the next four days all sort of blurred into one anyway! So here's a what I can remember edited highlights of my time in Jersey!
The first day was spent milling around the hotel and catching up with everyone as they turned up - it was weird because this year there was the highest number of international attendees ever and strangely one group of them sort of closed themselves off from everyone else - I tried to interact with them but quite frankly I got the impression that I wasn't part of their little gang. Life's too short to worry about that sort of stuff so I pretty much left them to it - a lot of the old school people commented on the different atmosphere this time as usually everyone hangs out together but this time there was a little splintering-off going on... maybe we're all just getting old and the youngsters think we're not cool - of course we're the cats that Kevin recognises straight away and chats with so I think we still have that cool factor!
The event officially kicks off as Ashes Cigar Club were a guy called Roger has arranged for his band to play. I wasn't sure if this would be good or not because nobody has ever organised any sort of official "party" at previous events but it was a really good night - we leave quite late and the police are just starting to take an interest at all of the people spilling out onto the streets! Supposedly we go back to the hotel to get some sleep but a few more hours drinking take place before that happens!
The day of the Vulgarthon we get to the cinemas at 5:30am! This is Adam's idea and I just go along with it because it's easier to get a free ride than pay for a taxi from the hotel! The line steadily grows and we get confirmation that we will be seeing "Clerks II" and also "Catch and Release" (which is a movie by the woman who wrote the screenplays for Erin Brokavich and 28 Days - this is her directorial debut and stars Jennifer Garner and Kevin Smith! Don't look for it anytime soon though - she's doing re-shoots this summer and I believe it will be coming out in 2007)!
Also whilst we're lined up I get interviewed by the crew from the G4 show "Icons" (who funnily enough have also done a show on Suicide Girls due to air soon) - I can't remember what I said and I'm sure I look bad (as I was hung over!) so I'm hoping I don't make it into the show!
As we go in I say a quick hi to Kevin who comments on my snazzy custom shirt that I'm wearing! The day goes pretty fast and for once I actually stay awake the whole time... okay I nodded off a bit in one of the Q&As following the movies but I was happy I didn't feel I missed anything this time!
Some quick reviews...
Jersey Girl (The Extended Cut) - This is the original longer version of the movie that existed before everyone decided they hated Jennifer Lopez and Miramax cut Kevin's movie to bits! The sad thing is that Jen is really good in this movie and almost everything she did was cut (she's in this version for a good 40/45 minutes) - the fact that she's missing from the theatrical cut really cuts down on the emotional impact when she dies. What's sadder is that there are no immediate plans to release this version on DVD - Kevin would like to do it someday but it's not on the cards anytime soon
Small Town Gay Bar - Malcolm Ingram's excellent documentary about gay bars in the deep south. The version we saw was his first cut which had some problems with the flow of things but he already had a new cut that I later heard he had some DVDs of (if I'd have known I would have tried to get a copy)! Anyway it was a very moving documentary and it actually had me crying at one point! Needless to say I loved it and if you can you should check it out if it ever gets a wider release
Big Helium Dog - Was originally planned to be shown again this year during the lunch break for those who hadn't seen it but as things were running late it was dropped. I've seen it several times before so I can say it's genuinely funny and again sadly there are no immediate plans for a DVD
Catch and Release - Once they've done their re-shoots and re-edited it I can honestly see this becoming a firm-favourite of mine. Ulimately it's a chick flick but I've never been above admitting I like chick flicks! Kevin is hilarious in it and Juliette Lewis is pretty damn good too! Plus I have such a crush on Jennifer Garner how could I not love a movie where she is the lead actress!
Oh What A Lovely Tea Party - This is a documentary about the making of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and this is the second-time I've watched it. It's fun and there's lots of great moments but it's a real chore to watch in a cinema setting. If it were ever to show up on DVD I'd love it because I could watch bits of it at my leisure but it's a bit too much to sit through in a darkened cinema at the end of a long day!
Clerks II - Okay I managed to get to see this twice thanks to Ming who runs Kevin's websites and I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's my favorite Kevin Smith movie so far. It obviously returns to the style of Clerks in that this is a day in the life of our two favorite slackers (with two bookend pieces set before and after the events we see), but we also get the sort of almost cartoony comedy of Mallrats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the intelligent writing of Dogma and the emotion of Chasing Amy and Jersey Girl. This film really covers all the bases and I can genuinely understand why it got an eight minute standing ovation at Cannes. I'm not going to spoil anything but this movie is just amazing and I really hope it does very well because Kevin deserves it.
You know what - this entry is getting longer than I ever anticipated! So lets see - I got to go back the second day (which was the same event again because the first day sold out) thanks to Ming and we just hung out more than anything. Although obviously Clerks II got a second viewing! I also got to meet Marilyn Ghigliotti (Vernoica from the original Clerks) who was just there as a regular attendee! Oh and I, and lots of other fans, got really ill a few days after the event! Thankfully its passed now but the day I got back I was doubled-up on the floor with stomach pain and I had a real bad cold / fever for just over a week. Luckily I'm pretty much over it now!
I feel like I haven't even begun to explain everything - but this entry will have to do for now
EDIT: Update - since I'm doing the Clerks II banner competition I've got even less free time than usual but the photos are coming - promise!
Day 1 (Thursday)
Okay so I arrived in New York on the Thursday afternoon and even though I was wiped out I tried to stay up as late as possible which I managed to do by just walking all around the Times Square area and taking it all in! I also stumbled upon a place called Midtown Comics which was the best comic shop I have ever been in in my life - and it wasn't even on my list of places to visit! Eventually tiredness kicked in and I went back to the hotel and slept like a log!
Day 2 (Friday)
The next morning I woke up incredibly early - I think it was around 5:30am so I had a shower and a shave and headed off to Central Park which was just incredible! I spent a good few hours walking again and I walked about two thirds of the length of the Park which, if you know how big that place is, is pretty impressive!
I then headed over to Bloomingdales to get Little Brown Bags for my Mum and Sister! Whilst there I had a quick look in the Men's Department and found an awesome Doors "Morrison Hotel" t-shirt in this line of vintage/retro shirts! I'm not the kinda guy who usually gets excited about clothes but I was just very very happy about my new purchase!
That night I was going to see Miles Hunt perform in a place called Crash Mansion (you may remember me saying that Miles is my favourite musician and he announced this gig after I booked my trip which seemed like fate that I had to attend) but as I only had a rough idea where it was I went down there early. After walking around for a long time I eventually found it and then went and grabbed a bite to eat - after killing some time I got to the club early and after chatting with some people at the bar I went to sit down only to see Miles sitting with a small group of friends in the otherwise practically empty club! I figured this could be my one opportunity to actually speak to him and after some mental deliberation I did just that. What I didn't account for was how fuckin' nervous I was... seriously I was shaking and I look totally out of place in the photo I had taken with him.
Miles was splitting his set with Michael Ferentino (a regular collaborator of Miles) and just before he went on Miles' girlfriend came over and asked me if I'd like to sit with everyone else. I said no at first because I felt it may have been awkward but she insisted and so I moved over to their group. It then turns out that I'd been speaking to Michael's wife, Joie, at the bar so at least I sort of knew someone! Anyway both Michael and Miles kick-ass and after their set they decide to move the party over to another bar - they ask me to join them and by now I've had enough drinks to just accept the invitation! It's at the bar that I actually get to do something I never dreamed of... I got to just hang out and get very very drunk with Miles! I also met lots of other great people including another musician called Sport Johnson (who's now on my list of artists to check out).
Anyway after the party the group disperse and Joie mentions they're going to a burlesque show... well I don't have anything better to do so I tag along and on the way tell her & Michael a bit about Suicide Girls (they'd heard of the site but never visited it). The burlesque show is very entertaining and I get even more drunk! Thankfully I get a ride back to the hotel from a great guy called Doc and as soon as I get to the room I just fall asleep straight away!
Day 3 (Saturday)
The next morning I waste almost an entire day to nursing my hangover but I'll be damned if I wasn't grinning like a fool the whole time even though I felt like my head was going to explode!
That afternoon I meet up with my friend Adam (who is also going to Vulgarthon) and we end up in Best Buy where he gets a great deal on a surround sound system that we need to come back and pick up the next day (and where I buy too many DVDs... luckily Adam lends me a portable DVD player so I can watch some of them later). He also shows me around a bit as he's lived in New York for a while - it's always better to have a local on hand when you're in a new city!
That night we meet up with another Vulgarthon attendee, Daniel, and we go to see "X-Men: The Last Stand"... which completely blows! But we do get to see the trailer for Clerks II on a huge screen and it gets big laughs from the audience - which is a great sign!
After the movie we all decide to call it a night so I get my only early night of the whole trip! I grab some food and some beer and watch some of the DVDs I bought until I fall asleep!
Day 4 (Sunday)
I have to meet Adam again to help him out at Best Buy and decide to leave early so I can grab a burger or two at Wendys (because quite frankly they're the best burgers in the world)! Unfortunately because it's early Sunday morning none of them are open and I go hungry!
We manage to get Adam's surround sound system back to his office (several blocks away!) in a shopping trolley - which was fun! And then the rest of the day is basically more sight seeing and shopping - again it was cool to have a local as a guide as he took me to areas that I probably never would have got to myself because they're not really touristy (lots of second-hand / indie kinda shops).
Later in the day we head back to Broadway to see "Monty Python's Spamalot: The Musical!" - back when I first new I was making this trip I bought two tickets online. It was expensive but they were great seats and, even though all of big names have now left (I knew Tim Curry had left but I thought David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria where still in it), I still really enjoyed it (so much so that I'd like to see the version coming to London later this year)! It made me laugh because Adam was excited that Tim Curry's replacement was the guy who played the Mayor on Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I think he was the only person in the whole theatre who knew who he was!
Day 5 (Monday)
It's my last day in New York - I take one final walk around the Times Square area. I eventually check out of the hotel, meet Daniel and we get the train to Jersey! Whilst on the train we meet Adam who is taking Paige to Jersey as it's her first time there and when we get off the train we see Simon (who's from Ireland) also getting off the train! We all get together and head off to Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash (Kevin's comic shop that also has a ton of props from the movies on display) to pick up our tickets. We then head off to a nearby pub to get something to eat and have a few drinks - we get there to discover another twenty or so Vulgarthon attendees (a nice mixture of old and new friends)! Already it feels like I'm back with my second-family!
Days 6-9 (Tuesday-Friday)
Okay this little diary is getting long and quite frankly the next four days all sort of blurred into one anyway! So here's a what I can remember edited highlights of my time in Jersey!
The first day was spent milling around the hotel and catching up with everyone as they turned up - it was weird because this year there was the highest number of international attendees ever and strangely one group of them sort of closed themselves off from everyone else - I tried to interact with them but quite frankly I got the impression that I wasn't part of their little gang. Life's too short to worry about that sort of stuff so I pretty much left them to it - a lot of the old school people commented on the different atmosphere this time as usually everyone hangs out together but this time there was a little splintering-off going on... maybe we're all just getting old and the youngsters think we're not cool - of course we're the cats that Kevin recognises straight away and chats with so I think we still have that cool factor!
The event officially kicks off as Ashes Cigar Club were a guy called Roger has arranged for his band to play. I wasn't sure if this would be good or not because nobody has ever organised any sort of official "party" at previous events but it was a really good night - we leave quite late and the police are just starting to take an interest at all of the people spilling out onto the streets! Supposedly we go back to the hotel to get some sleep but a few more hours drinking take place before that happens!
The day of the Vulgarthon we get to the cinemas at 5:30am! This is Adam's idea and I just go along with it because it's easier to get a free ride than pay for a taxi from the hotel! The line steadily grows and we get confirmation that we will be seeing "Clerks II" and also "Catch and Release" (which is a movie by the woman who wrote the screenplays for Erin Brokavich and 28 Days - this is her directorial debut and stars Jennifer Garner and Kevin Smith! Don't look for it anytime soon though - she's doing re-shoots this summer and I believe it will be coming out in 2007)!
Also whilst we're lined up I get interviewed by the crew from the G4 show "Icons" (who funnily enough have also done a show on Suicide Girls due to air soon) - I can't remember what I said and I'm sure I look bad (as I was hung over!) so I'm hoping I don't make it into the show!
As we go in I say a quick hi to Kevin who comments on my snazzy custom shirt that I'm wearing! The day goes pretty fast and for once I actually stay awake the whole time... okay I nodded off a bit in one of the Q&As following the movies but I was happy I didn't feel I missed anything this time!
Some quick reviews...
Jersey Girl (The Extended Cut) - This is the original longer version of the movie that existed before everyone decided they hated Jennifer Lopez and Miramax cut Kevin's movie to bits! The sad thing is that Jen is really good in this movie and almost everything she did was cut (she's in this version for a good 40/45 minutes) - the fact that she's missing from the theatrical cut really cuts down on the emotional impact when she dies. What's sadder is that there are no immediate plans to release this version on DVD - Kevin would like to do it someday but it's not on the cards anytime soon
Small Town Gay Bar - Malcolm Ingram's excellent documentary about gay bars in the deep south. The version we saw was his first cut which had some problems with the flow of things but he already had a new cut that I later heard he had some DVDs of (if I'd have known I would have tried to get a copy)! Anyway it was a very moving documentary and it actually had me crying at one point! Needless to say I loved it and if you can you should check it out if it ever gets a wider release
Big Helium Dog - Was originally planned to be shown again this year during the lunch break for those who hadn't seen it but as things were running late it was dropped. I've seen it several times before so I can say it's genuinely funny and again sadly there are no immediate plans for a DVD
Catch and Release - Once they've done their re-shoots and re-edited it I can honestly see this becoming a firm-favourite of mine. Ulimately it's a chick flick but I've never been above admitting I like chick flicks! Kevin is hilarious in it and Juliette Lewis is pretty damn good too! Plus I have such a crush on Jennifer Garner how could I not love a movie where she is the lead actress!
Oh What A Lovely Tea Party - This is a documentary about the making of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and this is the second-time I've watched it. It's fun and there's lots of great moments but it's a real chore to watch in a cinema setting. If it were ever to show up on DVD I'd love it because I could watch bits of it at my leisure but it's a bit too much to sit through in a darkened cinema at the end of a long day!
Clerks II - Okay I managed to get to see this twice thanks to Ming who runs Kevin's websites and I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's my favorite Kevin Smith movie so far. It obviously returns to the style of Clerks in that this is a day in the life of our two favorite slackers (with two bookend pieces set before and after the events we see), but we also get the sort of almost cartoony comedy of Mallrats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the intelligent writing of Dogma and the emotion of Chasing Amy and Jersey Girl. This film really covers all the bases and I can genuinely understand why it got an eight minute standing ovation at Cannes. I'm not going to spoil anything but this movie is just amazing and I really hope it does very well because Kevin deserves it.
You know what - this entry is getting longer than I ever anticipated! So lets see - I got to go back the second day (which was the same event again because the first day sold out) thanks to Ming and we just hung out more than anything. Although obviously Clerks II got a second viewing! I also got to meet Marilyn Ghigliotti (Vernoica from the original Clerks) who was just there as a regular attendee! Oh and I, and lots of other fans, got really ill a few days after the event! Thankfully its passed now but the day I got back I was doubled-up on the floor with stomach pain and I had a real bad cold / fever for just over a week. Luckily I'm pretty much over it now!
I feel like I haven't even begun to explain everything - but this entry will have to do for now