From left: the author, Geology, Greg Nice, Sadat-X

Saw the above hip-hoppers downstairs at Trafo on a Wednesday and nearly died of suffocation it was so packed.  I hate to say it, but I’m starting to feel like I’m too old for the pushing and shoving.  I can’t go to a party unless I know it’s going to be perfect- hot beats, respectful crowd, cheap drinks, no entry BS, good sound quality and multiple rooms for partying and chilling.  However, one thing I love about seeing shows in a foreign country is that the artists are almost always down to talk with the crowd and sign autographs and stuff.  I’ve seen artists in Japan and Hungary (that would normally be mobbed senseless in the states or UK) just having a drink and chatting after the show ends.  That’s how it should be; these people aren’t aliens.  Anyways, other than the negative space available for dancing, we had a good time.  Puszi to Zsuzsa for the pic.

Saw this cute little groupie, so I took her home.  What what!

Despite being a week overdue on my latest Flash project, I spent the weekend partying like it’s 1999. Friday we saw an incredible show by Brit dance troupe DV8, then went with (new characters) Akos and Weird Jo for drinks at a smoky bar in the 8th district. Lessons learned: Contemporary dance doesn’t have to be totally incomprehensible and Finlandia is my new vodka of choice.

Saturday we met at long last with Csaba the Hungarian, unseen since graduation parties like, a million years ago, at the comic book bar. After two corso beers we trammed it to a going away party for some monkey moving to San Francisco (the lucky bastid). All I can remember is that Csaba was surrounded by women and was constantly opening a bottle of wine, and I woke up with a huge bruise on my hip. Lessons learned: The first expat I met in Budapest works in plastics and his whole life ended when he graduated from Penn four years ago, Hungarian guys wearing green du-rags have a paltry selection of music (even for Def Selecta) and bad skin, and DON’T, whatever you do, eat really spicy pasta and then drink too much. Ouch.

Finally got my groove on this last Friday to the old-school breaks of none other than the founder of the Zulu Nation and hip-hop as we know it, Afrika Bambaataa.  For a guy pushing 50, he can still pack a club with the best of ‘em.

Please click here to see pics from the show.