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The Lifestyle Mag Hits the Town!

NOVEMBER 13, 2006
Well, last week was nuts.  SI Judging, Drawgers in the city, AI party, AI after party, AI after party after party parties.
There was a big American Illustration/Photography 25th anniversary gala party thing on Thursday night.  The Lifestyle Magazine sent our best photographer to cover the event but I think he was too distracted talking to women that just kept saying " I love your work" and forgot to take freakin' pictures.  He recounts that the setting of the AI bash was a big church type place.  There were mojitos, margaritas and martinis with something called a 'lychee' inside them, and a lot of really great art on the walls.  Great work in this year's book as he recalls.  BUT, there was no dancing.  How could it be a party/gala without music and dancing?
Anyways, the real party and dancing deal went on at the After Party and our photographer was there to capture it all.  Check out Gary 'Wheels of Steel" Taxali on the cover above.  YAH MON!
GIVE ME BEER  Leo Espinosa arrives at the after party and promptly begins to choke Thomas "Beer King" Fuchs until he points him to the tap.
James Jean, Tomer Hanuka, Yuko Shimizu, Antonio De Luca, Cathie Bleck, and Christoph Niemann.
Taxali's jams are playing LOUD.  Leo and Isabel Klett get the party going.
Leo is a machine.  I tell him Sky Gurney is Covers assistant at TIME and the guy doesn't waste a second.  You want a TIME cover, be nice to Skye!
Even good old Irish boy Brian Cronin gets in on the hot reggae action with a wonderful lady.
You just knew this was going to happen.  Limboing with bead necklaces.
Something about 10 beers makes guys get much closer than they ever should.  "I love you man!"
-Sergio Baradat snuggles up to a very happy Roberto Parada. 
-Brian Cronin gives me a big squeeze:  "Hey, Brian, I'm married!"
-Gary Taxali and Marc Burckhardt have a chat:
  Marc:  Hey Gary, what's that loud stuff?
  Gary:  It's music man!
  Marc:  What do you do with it?
  Gary:  You DANCE!
  Marc:  Nah, I'm German, man, I'm much better at this beer thing.  Wooo!
 
Something about 10 beers also makes women get much closer to Edel than they ever would!  Monika Aichele, top left, Sky Gurney gives me a dance, or five. 
RIGHT:  Matt Curtius and Gina Triplett, they're soooooo cute!
Jeffrey Decoster, Cronin, Natalie Ascencios, Marcos Chin, Espinosa
THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Party ended at 4 a.m. or something, everybody got on the elevator and down we went.  Cronin, Chin, Yuko, Decoster, and Leo. 
Elevator got stuck, too heavy, it was carrying way too much talent.  Cronin crawled out of the elevator and it really took a lot of weight off the thing.   It went safely down, and off to our quiet homes we went.  Don't know what happened to Cronin....
WHAT IS A LYCHEE?
A small fruit from China and the West Indies, with a hard shell and sweet, juicy flesh. The flesh is white with a gelatinous texture and a musky, perfumed flavor.  The lychee fruit has been a delicacy in Southeast Asia for over 2000 years. Domestically, lychees are grown in Hawaii, California and Florida and are available fresh from June through mid July. The flesh of the fruit is creamy white and surrounds a single seed.

Still, what the hell was it doing in my Martini???  Mark from A.I. must have the answer!  Mark?
O'Brien, Espinosa, Ciardello, Parada.
Earlier, on Tuesday, Drawgers took over Society of Illustrators headquarters for some fun and conversation.  Turns out it's much more enjoyable to talk than type.  Who knew?
Ed Sorel, Jack Unruh, and John Cuneo chat about a book.  It's probably a book of John's cute drawings of cats.
Dinner at Maya, a nice and pricey Latin American spot!
11 p.m.:  A blurry Marc Burckhardt and a semi-blurry Jody Hewgill leave for some sleep while some night owls head Downtown for some music by Ad Macauley and his wife, Wig.
Wig on guitar and vocals.....
Fuchs enjoys another cold one.
.....Ad Macauley on drums!

Thanks for having us Adam, great to see you guys play and talk a bit.  Cheers!

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