Brilliant idea on Nathania's part to hold her 27th birthday party rollerskating at the Roxy. Apparently every Wednesday night they transform the dance floor into rollerskate dance party - complete with DJ spinning everything from 70s to Ja-Rule ("Watch yourself!") $15 bucks to get in, $5 to rent old-school skates, $10 to rent in-lines. $5 drinks.
Jackie and I were the first to show up - early enough that the doors weren't even open yet. Check out the people waiting in line - they're all sauced up in spandex and headbands, talking shop about skate keys and high performance wheels. See all those duffle bags people are carrying? If you want to be taken seriously at the Roxy, you need to bring your own skates...
... which is exactly what Nathania did, toting around her Britney Spears Skates. Don't laugh, they're much better than...
... the old-school 70s disco skates I was outfitted with.
Me, to guy at rental counter: "Hello!"
Guy at rental counter: "Hi - here's your skates."
Me: "Do you have anything smaller than a size 12"
Guy: "Well, that's what you asked for, isn't it?!"
Me: "Oh. It is?"
Here's the roller disco...
.. and here it is after stiff $5 drinks.
The clientele here is pretty crazy - there are far more good skaters than people that don't know what they're doing (er, me). Ever been to that RollerbladeTM dance party in Central Park (right near Sheep's Meadow?). It's just like that - only everyone's going faster and weaving in and out of people.
Our mantra for the night: "It's not a question of if you'll fall, but when you'll fall."
[video: nat & jackie tearing shit up]
[video: first-person rollerskate action]
Representing dinner club crew: Nat, Dave (Nat's friend from high school), Jackie, me (all sporting stiff mini-drinks)...
... and Nat's teacher-friends from school.
I tried my hardest to get the DJ to give a special bday shoutout to Nat, but all we got were back-to-back 50 Cent tracks... not that I'm complaining.
These signs were hanging all over the place. I've never heard any "Morning After" show before, but I figure it's some kind of dating show. After seeing this, all I could think about was the madness at Kalyna's birthday, but this taping was a little low-key...
... just following this couple around as they skated around holding hands. How sweet.
Dave. Me. Showing off our mad rollerskate skillz. By the end of the night I could go backwards (but still not stop).
You'd be surprised just how tired you get skating around in circles for a few hours. Not only is your right leg physically exhausted from making hundreds of counter-clockwise laps, but you get mentally drained from concentrating/stressing so hard on not slamming into people...
... and once you loose your concentration, you end up taking diggers.
Jackie took a pretty good one around 11:30p... I love how she looks exactly like this kid from Chutes and Ladders.
Medical Report: No blood. Just a little shaken up.
Sleepy...
.. though everyone was all smiles once we got our skates off.
