We all met at the Coal Yard bar for a few pre-party drinks.
The Duncester couldn't make it to the party, but stopped by and brought some flowers for Mrs. Chillmaster, who's put up with our nonsense for over a half a year now. Very nice! Everybody arrived, but I forgot to get a group photo taken. It ain't easy being green and you'll see what I'm talking about in the photos to come.
And here he is, the man behind the window, The Chillmaster!
Before the party begins, The Chillmaster had a special toast to give.
It was a toast to the memory of our friend, photojournalist, Bob Arihood who attended the first two Chillmaster parties.
I thought I'd bring something to add to the many cool items on the Chillmaster table.
Gumby! Here I am presenting him to the Chillmaster.
And now the party can start!
Here's Eric, Lindsay and Scott enjoying a laugh.
More laughs with Ed and the Chillmaster. It's always a good time here!
Lindsay had to leave early and waves goodbye through the Chillmaster window.
But just as Lindsay leaves, Nikki arrives and the party remains perfectly balanced.
Nikki takes over the Chillmaster chair and chills out. Why the fuck not?
Kate, Goggla and Eric are relaxing and enjoying the party.
The Chillmaster and Teneesha pose for a photo.
Then Teneesha pours herself some Hennessy.
The Chillmaster does likewise...
The remote is brought out...
The music begins...
And so does the dancing!
A group portrait of the males in attendance.
And the prettier half of the party, the females pose with the Chillmaster.
Thanks to the Chillmaster and everyone who showed up for another rollicking and fun, Chillmaster Dance Party! Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
There's a Mars Bar Documentary being shown this week in Greenpoint, you can read about it and see a preview of it at One More Folded Sunset by clicking here: Mars Bar Documentary.
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Bonus Art by Jaws!
Jaws the Cabbie thought the green wig made me look like George Washington and sent in this art to prove his point. Ha ha ha! Thanks, Jaws, great job!
As some of you know, there was a problem with the comments section here the last couple of days and it was driving me fucking nuts. I pestered the shit out of the support staff at Squarespace and they’re probably kicking themselves that I picked them as a host. People's comments weren’t showing up and it was stressing the shit out of me, I had visions of everyone abandoning this blog. Well, the support people at Squarespace are great and they did find a bug and patched it and most people seem to be able to comment again. Jaws can’t and I’m not sure about Biff, but we’ll see what happens tomorrow. (Update: Jaws is posting again and I bet Biff will be able too as well. Finally! I had a two day massive obsession fest over this.) The end of my work night sucked too and all I want to do is have a beer or seven and chill the fuck out. Now where should I go to chill out? Hmmm...
Okay, it's off into the night we go.
Okay, I've been staring at this ad in the subway station for about eleven minutes now. What the fuck is this? I mean I know it's an ad for Jello pudding, but what does the hell? "You never forget a Pudding Face?" What does that even mean? And why did they capitalize the words, "Pudding Face?" Why would I ever eat pudding again after seeing this monstrosity of an ad? The answer is simple, I won't! What the fuck is a Pudding Face?
Oh shit...it's a whole campaign. I got a feeling this could haunt me in the future. I thought it was bad when Bill Cosby was their spokesman. Pudding Face? Fuck.
Boy, I'm really not having a good streak of luck lately. I thought I'd go to the Chillmaster's and chill out with him and some of his classic soul music, but his window is shut down and it's not even midnight! I'm going to have to give him shit about this at the next Chillmaster Dance Party.
I decided to get a bag of beer and just wander around the East Village and take some photos.
Okay, the first beer is bagged and ready to go. I put a straw in it to give it a more soda-like look in case I encounter a cop. Kind of pathetic, I know.
And here we go for a leisurely stroll around the Lower East Side.
Wow, that's a fully loaded psychic window.
These three pretty ladies were chilling on their stoop, so I thought I'd stop and say hi.
I asked them their names and they are (from left): Luninisa, Georgia Peach and Poison Puss. They were really nice and they know of the Chillmaster. They read about him on EV Grieve and said they'd stop by the next Chillmaster Dance Party on the 14th of this month.
Like a magnet I was pulled to the now shuttered Mars Bar.
Shit, Terry's art got tagged.
Mike Grey's tribut to Hank got blacked out last week and now it's been retouched somewhat.
A note to Myriam on the sidewalk.
I'm going to try and get some shots of the inside from the window up here.
The bar's gone, but some of the graffitti and empties remain.
Sad.
According to the DOH, there's over 17,000 fruit flies in that blue cup alone! Danger, danger!
Some people were nice enough to stop and take a photo of Gumby and I toasting the Mars Bar.
A photo of the photo takers. Thanks!
Here comes the wrecking ball!
Thanks for the memories Mars Bar! Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
------------------------------------- Bonus Photo By Bobby Williams! Bobby takes shots for EV Grieve’s blog and snapped one of the Chillmaster the other day. He sent me the original and here it is. Thanks Bobby and keep up the great work!
Three words sums up today’s post: Chillmaster Dance Party Three! (And a shoutout and thanks to our friend EV Grieve who got the ball rolling with this post.)
The Chillmaster Dance Party Pre-drinks happen here at Mars Bar, which is still open. Unbelievable! And there's Ray out front.
And there's Hank in his chair, it's going to be a sad day when this is gone from this corner. Let's go inside.
And here's the whole crew, from left: Kate, Goggla, Yours Fooly, Shawn and Lindsay. We're ready to let the chilling begin!
Here's the infamous Chillmaster window and soul music is wafting from it.
The Chillmaster chair is empty...what the fuck?
All of a sudden we hear a, "Hey!" and it's the Chillmaster standing behind us!
Once inside it's the traditional pouring of the Hennessy...
And the music blasts...
The table is well stocked for the party.
Lindsay and the Chillmaster share a laugh...
And the dancing begins!
Kate, Chillmaster and Lindsay take a break for a photo.
The Chillmaster and I clowning around.
And here's the Chillmaster's daughter, Anastazia. It was her 18th birthday so we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her.
Father and daughter, nice!
And here's Victoria, who's a little late due to work.
Victoria and the Chillmaster trade hellos...
And hugs, it's all about the love in the Chillmaster den!
It's always fun to watch the people go by the Chillmaster's window.
Shawn is chilling the fuck out in the Chiller chair.
And Gumby takes his turn.
Easy Ed shows up on the scene and the party is complete!
Ed and the Chillmaster grooving to the tunes.
And the last arrival is Chanel...
Who gets into the swing of things immediately.
Dance, dance, dance!
The Chillmaster grooves with Gumby!
And one last shot for the road. Thanks to the Chillmaster and everybody for showing up and making the Chillmaster Dance Party III a total blast as always! Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
Okay, last Sunday’s post was a little bit of a fiddle. Meaning the end wasn’t what really happened. If you don’t remember or haven’t read that post here it is: Last Sunday’s post. I left everyone hanging and wondering why the mysterious East Village Chillmaster of East Third Street’s window was closed, when he’s usually got it open to reveal a legendary coffee table of knives, a chess set and a nice display of liquor bottles. And of course blaring out of those windows is classic soul music.
What really happened is he was trying to sleep and heard Kate and I outside and wanted to know what the hell was going on. I explained I had read about him on the EV Grieve blog and he was amazed that he had been written up on the internet and that people had left comments about him. He had to go to bed early, but we made a date to meet the following Friday night and chill. And that night is tonight! I’m meeting Kate from One More Folded Sunset and then we’re off to meet the Chillmaster!
And here's the subway, off we go to the land of chills and soul music. I can't wait!
I've just met Kate and she's a little camera-shy tonight, so she's staying out of the photos. But it's good to have her along, this is quite an adventure!
And, whoomp! There he is, The Chillmaster himself! The soul music is blaring and he's chilling out on his chiller easy chair.
He welcomes Kate and I into the Inner Chill Sanctum!
And it's not polite to show up empty-handed, Kate and I brought a bottle of Hennessy as a chill offering. Here I am with the man himself, The Chillmaster! Let the good times roll!
I placed the bottle on the legendary chill coffee table alongside his liquor bottle presentation, state of the art knives and a chess set. Oh and there's a picture of President Obama smoking a blunt. Hilarious!
The view from the inside. Nice!
Here's the state-of-the-art sound system that outputs The Chillmasters sweet soul music. Great set up!
Hennessy is poured...
And with a quick snap of The Chillmaster's thumb, the music begins along with the chill night.
Let the chilling begin!
I output a poster of the original EV Grieve post that inspired this whole evening.
The Chillmaster loved all the comments from everyone. He had no idea he had such a following!
Who's the man?
EV Grieve's the man! The Chillmaster sends his love to you and all the EV Grieve community!
The Chillmaster loved Gumby!
And he even let him have a seat on the Chillmaster Chill Easy Chair. This chair vibrates and has a heat control!
The Chillmaster demonstrates the fine art of chilling. He is the master!
Wow, he's really chilling now! I think it's time to call it a night! If you'd like to contact The Chillmaster, here's his email: hwchillmaster@gmail.com.
I loved all the comments and was intrigued by a man who’s life seemingly revolved around an open window, a cocktail, sweet soul music and the occasional catcall to women walking by. I doubt I’d ever be able to live that kind of life, but wanted to observe someone who was living a chill dream. And last night I was able to fulfill that wish. And the Chillmaster did not disappoint. We had a great time.
Hennessy was poured, soul music blared, we laughed and laughed and in between, we chilled the fuck out. He told me his real name but I prefer to think of him as The Chillmaster. He’s retired and has been in his Chillmaster pad for the last eight years. He grew up in Harlem and was telling Kate and I stories about his parents and at one point said, “My daddy was a rolling stone,” and then I shouted out, “Papa Was A Rolling Stone!” “You want to hear that?” The Chillmaster shot back.
“Fuck yes,” I answered.
Within minutes the classic song, “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” was blaring out of his speakers louder than I had ever heard it. The three of us grooved to the music, drank and chilled. Pure heaven! The Chillmaster is a legend on the block and as you sit inside of his chill lair, it’s fun to watch the world go by. The soul music wafts out to the people on parade on the sidewalk and they look in, smile and wave and give a thumbs up in appreciation. There’s not too many places where you can check your nerves and worries at the door, but there is one place on East Third street, near Avenue A where they can be checked and then a drink is poured, classic soul music happens and you chill right the fuck out. I can’t wait to go back.
Tonight I’m meeting Kate who is the writer/photographer behind the fine blog, One More Folded Sunset. I got to know Kate after she got involved in EV Grieve’sInternational Coalition of Tree Tossing in the Spring (ICTTS) competition. I was amused at Kate’s obsession with this contest as it mirrors my own obsession over some things. And one of those things is a guy who lives close by the place I’m meeting Kate at who’s known as the “Chillmaster.” I read about the Chillmaster first at EV Grieve’s blog back on April 11th.
It was a nice day that day, so I assumed that this was EV Grieve’s way of saying, “It’s spring.” But after reading the comments, it turns out there’s a whole story behind this photo that EV Grieve posted. Apparently there’s a guy who lives in the East Village, who leaves his windows open all through the year, blares soul music and has a display of liquor bottles on his coffee table. Check out these comments from the post that EV Grieve put up:
“This guy is the man! We all call him "Chillmaster". He honestly chills harder than anyone I have ever seen chill in my entire life. Would love to hear a back-story or have someone interview him.”
“CHILLMASTER FLEX. what a hero for chillers everywhere. One time my friends and I were drunk during the day and we had a chillmaster dance party outside of his window. he liked it.”
“I pass this guy all the time, and he often cat calls. I would love to hear his story.... “
Ha! I was really intrigued. From what I could gather from the comments was this guy is a neighborhood hero, dedicated to drinking, listening to soul music, chilling out and catcalling women. That’s my kind of guy! I went there that night hoping to interview him and get some photos for MAD. However when I got there he was talking to a woman and I kind of butted in to ask him if he was the Chillmaster. It was stupid of me and he wasn’t too happy that I interrupted his conversation with the woman and asked where I had heard of him. I didn’t want to mention EV Grieve’s blog without checking with him first, so I told the Chillmaster I couldn’t remember and asked to take his photo and he told me no. It was kind of unpleasant and I left and took some photos of the Hell’s Angels building instead, but I made a mental note to go back and try again. And I’ve been obsessed with meeting the Chillmaster ever since.
I told Kate about this and we decided to try and meet the Chillmaster after dinner tonight. We decided to meet a few blocks from the Chillmasters house at Boca Chica, one of my stops from the bar crawl.
And here we are at Boca Chica. Of course i'm about 45 minutes early, because I'm always worried about being late. But that'll give me time to take some photos before Kate arrives.
Hey, there's a familiar face behind the bar.
It's bartender Ivan, who was on duty when I stopped by on the bar crawl last year. He remembered me and we had a nice little reunion.
Here's the back wall of the bar.
A porcelain Indian greets you at the door.
Orange lights hang over and illuminate the bar.
Latin music is played at a conversational level on a turntable! A true blast from the past.
More records are housed below.
A view from the front windows.
The dining room which is located directly behind the bar.
The specials of the evening are written on a mirror on the back wall.
Ivan and his co-workers at the end of the bar.
At this point Kate showed up and presented me with this card. It reads: "Enjoy these swizzle sticks, but alway watch your...
Back." Aaaahhhh!!!! He's everywhere! Great card!
And here's the swizzle sticks she gave me to add to the ever-growing MAD collection. They're glass Christmas tree swizzle sticks! Perfect! Thanks Kate!
And here's Kate and I with the swizzle sticks. Now it's off to meet the elusive Chillmaster.
We got there and the window was shut! This was weird, because everything I read about him on the EV Grieve post said he never shuts his window. We went and had a drink at the One and One and came back about a half an hour later.
Still closed! What's going on here? Did the Chillmaster move? Is this the end of chilling as we know it? I vow to answer all of these questions and more within the week. Stay tuned!
Review From the 365 Bar Crawl Here’s the review of Boca Chica I wrote last year for the 365 Bar Crawl. Boca Chica has been a favorite Latin American Restaurant and bar on the Lower East side for close to fifteen years now. The restaurant has a relaxing, low-key vibe with brick walls and festive colors. The bar is cozy and the staff are friendly. The cliental is mainly local folks from the neighborhood and regulars at the bar. There’s no draft beer but they do have a full bar with a decent selection of bottled beers. Some of the signature drinks include house Sangria, Margaritas and Mojitos. If you like shrimp, this is your dream restaurant, there’s eight different shrimp dishes on the menu including: Shrimp, Avocado and Heart Of Palm Salad; Shrimp Chipotle; Shrimp Ajillo and Moqueca De Peixe shrimp and fish in coconut sauce. Other entrees featured are: Skirt Steak Chimichurri; Cuban Sandwich; Burrito Cubano and an Argentina Chopped Steak Sandwich with chimichurri mayo.
Brunch is served on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4pm.
Boca Chica 13 First Ave. (at 1st St.) 212-473-0108
My friend Lex is in town from Canada and yesterday she went to the East Village. I suggested she stop at the Mars Bar and she did. Here's her photos from her day at Mars Bar.
Marcus, Lex, Hamlet and Eric at the Mars Bar.
Lex and Hamlet.
A drawing from Hamlet to Lex on her map. Nice!
Lex and Paola at the bar.
And the Marty sticker on the cash register. Great photos, Lex, thanks for sharing them! To the Mars Bar!
Chillmaster Dance Party Number Five!
We all met at the Coal Yard bar for a few pre-party drinks.
The Duncester couldn't make it to the party, but stopped by and brought some flowers for Mrs. Chillmaster, who's put up with our nonsense for over a half a year now. Very nice! Everybody arrived, but I forgot to get a group photo taken. It ain't easy being green and you'll see what I'm talking about in the photos to come.
And here he is, the man behind the window, The Chillmaster!
Before the party begins, The Chillmaster had a special toast to give.
It was a toast to the memory of our friend, photojournalist, Bob Arihood who attended the first two Chillmaster parties.
To Bob!
I thought I'd bring something to add to the many cool items on the Chillmaster table.
Gumby! Here I am presenting him to the Chillmaster.
And now the party can start!
Here's Eric, Lindsay and Scott enjoying a laugh.
More laughs with Ed and the Chillmaster. It's always a good time here!
Lindsay had to leave early and waves goodbye through the Chillmaster window.
But just as Lindsay leaves, Nikki arrives and the party remains perfectly balanced.
Nikki takes over the Chillmaster chair and chills out. Why the fuck not?
Kate, Goggla and Eric are relaxing and enjoying the party.
The Chillmaster and Teneesha pose for a photo.
Then Teneesha pours herself some Hennessy.
The Chillmaster does likewise...
The remote is brought out...
The music begins...
And so does the dancing!
A group portrait of the males in attendance.
And the prettier half of the party, the females pose with the Chillmaster.
Thanks to the Chillmaster and everyone who showed up for another rollicking and fun, Chillmaster Dance Party! Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
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