Treehouse Opens

Treehouse Comedy Club opened up to a sellout crowd last night. I tried to get in at the door but the place was packed. Anyone go? Anyone bomb? I was curious what the crowd was. I walked in twice trying to lock tickets. First time was early, and the buffet dinner crowd before the show was mostly seniors. I wasn't sure how they would react to an Opie & Anthony regular like Rich Vos. When I stopped back right before nine for a shot at the waiting list a younger crowd also started to fill out.

Going forward, Treehouse will have a show every Saturday night. Next week Patrice Oneal is booked! I'm out of town at a wedding unfortunately. Patrice is one of the funniest off the cuff guys around. I never laugh as hard as when he sits in on Opie & Anthony. He also sings what I've dubbed the unofficial theme song for Trumps raining debris.

NY Times Hearts Monster B's

The New York Times takes notice of Monster B's and likes what it sees. I haven't been as much since my friend who lived around the corner moved. I agree the beer selection is great and the deck is nice, but to me the ambience is lacking. I feel like I'm in the family room of a McMansion when I'm there. Some Stop & Shop brand cola served by my friends mom would feel more comfortable in hand than a Belgian beer there.

Oh Boy Bennigans!!!

Bennigans closed….

I know, I don’t give a fuck either.

I am curious though what is replacing it on the ground floor level of that building on the corner of Atlantic and Tresser. Not only did they strip all the Bennigans crazy crap off the walls, but they stripped away the walls. I wonder if that means something is set to fill the space soon.

To all you Bennigans fans, you’ll always the memories:

Few More Years of Another Hole

Stamford Talk can breath easier about falling debris as the Ritz Carlton project on the corner of Atlantic and Tresser is on hiatus due to the economy according to an article in today's Advocate.

The article goes on to describe how the economic downturn has cooled the luxury condo market some downtown. If you are in the market for a luxury condo Stamford easily has you covered. Highgrove, Trump, The Metropolitan, Glenview, Eastside Commons, Harbor Point (which went vertical last week), not to mention buildings (forever?) on the drawing board like The Luxe, City Place, Tresser Square, Park Square West, Archstone on Mill River & Atlantic Centre.

The moderately priced, first time home buyer market seems to be seriously under served and makes me wonder why no one has jumped in to take advantage. The developer may not make as much per unit but I imagine there must be some premium put on how fast a development like this would sell out. Its the difference between Trump sitting half sold for god knows how many years or something ripping sales through before construction is even done. It would also be a step towards solving the exodus of young people from the state. Combining use for office and retail in these developments can all help hedge bets against a flux in different markets. RBS now owns a couple blocks of condemned buildings all Mill River and the Advocate building is sitting in wait. Two opportunities to put it to the test.

Bailey Watch

If cartoons have taught me anything this runaway show dog is probably on a madcap adventure with a street wise pup from the West Side, a sassy lady dog from Glenbrook, and some wise old codger of a pooch from Waterside. They are on the run from a bumbling & comically obese dog catcher whose voice sounds a lot like Dennis Leary.

Please save Bailey from this tired plot device. Keep your eyes peeled for the Bearded Collie in the pic to the left. He may be looking a little mangy now. He has no collar and no tags on. I believe he was last spotted in Greenwich. If you have any info contact Bailey’s owner Scott by phone at 203-322-3178 or 203-219-7637, or by email at piskin@aol.com. Stamford Animal Control is another option at 203-977-4437.

Enjoying the Giants Game from the Bathroom

If you are going to do a big grand re-opening here is a list of suggestions. In no particular order.

1. Good service
2. Actually have the specialties you’re hyping on the menu.
3. Don’t give your patrons food poisoning.

Ask House

Here's just one of the many things that has been eating up my time and robbing you of daily posts. I work in digital media, though you'd never know from this amazing layout. This is an ad in our House campaign.

Yeah House gets this cool shit but where all the promo around my upcoming appearance on Kitchen Nightmares!

Indian: 3, Italian: 459,583

The old Dunn's Loft/ Oceans 211 building on Summer St has a coming soon sign in the window. Drum roll...Indian Cuisine. Not sure if that's a name or just a description. This would be the third Indian place in that little corner of town.

There is also a new facade and some inside renovations being made to what was a pizza place on Atlantic next to the kiddy gym and a block down from the Old Town Hall. No word on what it will be. Downtown could use a good buy-by-the-slice pizza place though for the office lunch crowd, late night bar fly crowd, and the real late night prostitute crowd who work at the rub and tug next door.

We ain't got no government loans, no one sends us a check from home.

Stamford's Center for the Arts recently announced they will file Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. In their words:

We see this as an opportunity and an important step in building a revitalized SCA,” stated Michael L. Widland, Chairman of the SCA Board. “Shortfalls in anticipated program revenues along with reduced State support have resulted in a financial situation whereby SCA cannot continue under its current structure. With the time frames and opportunities provided under Chapter 11, we intend to move forward with a comprehensive reorganization to diversify our revenue streams and programming while rebuilding community and government support. Of course, The Rich Forum and The Palace Theatre will remain open and operating during development of this new business plan.”

Financial situation... diversifying revenue streams... current structures... SILENCE SQUARE! Your answer lies in the bowels of Hell! Summon forth the demons! Bring the ROCK!

The City That Works has no music venue for established acts. I can't imagine bringing more concerts won't be a draw. And I don't count every six months a band like the Indigo Girls playing as an embrace of this strategy.

In a town where people are complaining there is nothing to do, how does a theatre shit the bed? The Russian Ballet or a Violinist may need some government assistance to stay afloat but perhaps something for the unwashed masses could put the profit in this non-profit. Why not bring in more bands? I could see bands like Ben Folds and Wilco playing. Lewis Black was packed, why not make comedians a more regular occurrence?

I'm not saying we need to do away with "An Evening with Bob Woodward", just supplement it.

UPDATED:
Looks like they will have to move towards more national acts as a result of bankruptcy. From an unnamed source:

They are getting out of the production business and are going to focus only on renting out the two theaters. The self produced productions had been eating a lot of their $$$ and booking dates. By focusing on soley booking acts, they can afford to bring in more national tours and acts.

That said, their second highest creditor is an agency from Maryland that sets up tours. They also owe over $100K in past due electric bills, but in the bankruptcy proceedings that will get knocked down a bit. Once the creditors/court realize that they are much more profitable with acts like lewis black, etc. the court will force them to book as many of those as it can.

Always believe what random people tell you in bars.

Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been on something of an unannounced hiatus last week and this week while my busy time of year at work calms down. I'll post if I have time, but wouldn't kick back into it full steam till next week.

I noticed this story in the Advocate today about Building and Land Technology taking over the Harbor Point project in the South End from Antares and got really pissed. Someone told me this in a bar 4-5 months ago. People tell you lots of things in bars and I've grown cynical of all of it. You didn't get drunk with Sasquatch one night, I don't believe a MILF at that age has that kind of stamina. So I looked around for some confirmation, found none and ignored it. I suppose thats the anatomy of a scoop, no one else knows.

Anatares has had some local trouble with projects in Greenwich, so I suppose another successful developer taking charge of the city's (and one of the country's) laregest brownfield redevelopments isn't a bad thing. In the meantime, roads and foundations are being laid already and you can see plantings at the start of a river greenway from acorss the shore at Crabshell. Won't be long until some of the building start to go vertical. The Gateway project goes back to the city for approval in a few weeks. As Trump & RBS wrap, there won't be any shortage of construction to watch.