To Do: Pillow Fight in Union Square

I think I'll have to file this one alongside the Idiotarod in the "I would never have thought of this" category. It's a pillow fight. In Union Square. Tomorrow, Saturday, February 18 (via Newmindspace, and don't miss the Subway Advisory .pdf - it's great). And it's just the kind of thing I'd take time out of my day, or specifically, time out of my shopping at the Union Squizz Green Market to watch. Hipsters beating each other up with pillows - don't even try to deny its genius. It, like Idiotarod before it, originated elsewhere. Apparently these people have organized pillow fights in Toronto, London, Madrid and Tel Aviv (click through for pics of each event). Who knew pillow fighting was a global sport? Can you say new Olympic Event?

Now pretty much everyone's had a pillow fight at some point in their lives. Be it as a kid with your siblings as a fun event to annoy the baby sitter, or perhaps later on in life as some sort of socially acceptible form of fetish or foreplay. The point is that it's a universal activity that is known the world over, which is part of the brilliance here. In fact, the fine people over at Guinness World Records have the largest pillow fight ever as having 2997 participants in the fine town of Groningen, The Netherlands. If I were a bettin' man, I'd wager that this one won't be that big. But, I digress. You say 'Pillow Fight', and people know what's up.

Clearly however, Union Square presents some challenges to the typical pillow fight location. That is, it's in a parking lot, surfaced with cement which - and I'll take a leap here - is much less forgiving than, say, a mattress in your average bedroom. Thus, the organizers of said pillow fight, in their infinite wisdom and concern for the general welfare of the participants, thought of some rules which I'm sure will be strictly adhered to and rigorously enforced. To wit:

Rules: Soft pillows only! Swing lightly, many people will be swinging at once. Do not swing at people without pillows or with cameras. Remove glasses beforehand! The event is FREE and appropriate for ALL AGES. Wait until the signal to begin! This event is more fun with feathers ;-)

PJs optional. (Emphasis ours.)

PJs optional. Ohhh, *Snap*! PJs! We here at Pedro's dig us some PJs. But that's another story. So if you've got nothing to do and you find yourself in the neighborhood, drop on by, write up your take on it and email it and I'll post it here. I can't make it myself because by 2pm tomorrow I'll be grillin' and chillin' like Bobby Flay in sunny Miami, Florida. Also, based on my Idiotarod experience, the police presence will be significant if the proper licenses and whatnot are not on hand. If they try to stop the fight, it could become some sort of riot fueled by an angry down-filled mob and I would love to see pics of that. So on that note, I am Out as I've gotta go meet Ralphie-mal for a few kooktails. Later Peeps! See you in a week.

Blizzard of 2006 Revealed

Here at Pedro's we heart us a good solid blizzard. It's makes for all kinds of goodness, including long beer soaked nights out with friends and hearty comfort food to go with it. This past weekend was no exception.

We were scheduled to dine at our favorite tranny-lovin wursthaus, the Silver Swan. We've been eating their wurst for years and it's always delicious. We got there at 8 at which time the blizzard was in full effect, with howling winds to boot.

On Sunday we took a walk to a friend's place to say hi to their kids. Along the way the girlfriend took the photos you see here. Pretty sweet, no? That girlfriend - she's gots some skillz!

Little Christmas Trees in the Window of
Pedro's NYC HQ

No Deliveries Today

A Shot of East 54th Street on Sunday Evening

Sing us 26 songs, you're the Piano Man

Last night was epic. The girlfriend and I got the special chance to go and see the Piano Man himself, Mr. Billy Joel. And let me say this straight up: Homeboy rocked the Garden. His voice was spectacular. His playing was aggressive and precise. The band was tight. He rocked for almost two and a half hours and the absolutely packed house screamed for more, me among them. He sang 26 songs for us and what I remember thinking is how many of those songs were a part of my youth: summers Humarock, Mass, specifically. I remember playing The Stranger's opening song, Movin' Out, over and over and over until I knew every word. When he played it last night I went a little bananas. But the best part is, so did Billy: he forgot to play an entire verse of the song - and he ended up cutting it short. When the band members told him he screwed it up, he was like "what the ?!?" and followed that with a classic "I guess tonight I'm de-composing." Pretty funny.

Check out the set list:

Prelude/Angry Young Man
My Life
Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out On Broadway)
Everybody Loves You Now
You're My Home (dedicated to his wife - awwwww)
New York State of Mind
Stiletto
Zanzibar
Allentown
The Night Is Still Young
Sometimes A Fantasy
Sleeping With the Television On
Goodnight Saigon
Movin' Out (abridged version, Doh!)
The Downeaster Alexa
She's Always A Woman
Keeping The Faith
The River of Dreams
I Go To Extremes
We Didn't Start the Fire
Big Shot
It's Still Rock and Roll To Me
You May Be Right
Only The Good Die Young
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (he ad-libbed the line "Bottle of red, bottle of white, not gonna have another drink tonight" and the crowd went nuts)
Piano Man (obvs)

Thank you to LPerk and Marco D for the tix. Thank you to Billy Joel for sharing the songs. I can't remember what I had for lunch today but I'll never forget last night.