Saturday, May 08, 2010

The NYC Nik at Nite Meetup!!

I had a blast tonight finally getting to meet some of my readers. SonshineMusic had joked recently that maybe we'd all get together and everyone would stare at their plates and not say anything, but it wasn't that way at all. It was a fantastic group of people. We met at 7, but Jeff and Blam got held up in traffic (I made a joke that Blam spent more time in the Lincoln Tunnel than Larry Underwood did, but I don't think anyone got it). So at 8:15 we asked to be seated... at 8:23 Jeff and his girlfriend showed up, and at 8:42 Blam arrived. At least I think those were the times. Hmm... Something seems important there but I'm just not getting it.

Here's the gang!!



They are, from right to left: Jeff Heimbuch; some interloper who insisted on being in the picture; Sonshine Music; AchingHope; TV Writer, Blam, JoanieG, and Kevie.

It's 12:30 now and I'll have a lot more to write later, but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who came out... we had a blast!!

49 comments:

Ali Bags said...

Hello everyone! It's so cool to see some of you together.

Erin {pughs' news} said...

Ah! I love it! How cool that you guys were all able to get together to talk LOST. You all look fantastic! Wish I could have joined you.

And Nikki... there's something vaguely familiar about those numbers. Hmmm. Let me give it some more thought and get back to you.

Joan Crawford said...

Aw! How awesome! Infinitely jealous!

Looks like a great restaurant - look at that portrait of me behind you!

Kevie Metal said...

Blam definitely deserves some kind of medal or commendation for elevating the conversation to the stratosphere, not to mention sitting in the Holland Tunnel for Jacob knows how long.

Had a great time--thanks so much everybody.

Rebecca T. said...

oh my goodness. It was such a blast actually getting to meet some of you face to face. Here's to many more Nik at Nite meet ups in the future!! Now I need some sleep zzzz.....

Rebecca T. said...

AH! need the emails. Pretend you didn't see this.

humanebean said...

Congratulations, you guys! Oh, how I wish I could have been there with all you lovely people. Let the record show that I did toast y'all (with my Ian Leino 'Polar Beer' glass, no less) at precisely 8:15! Here's hoping we can get together sometime down the road ...

JS said...

I am so jealous and am so sorry I couldn't make it. Can't wait to hear how you solved all the mysteries of LOST!!!

TV Writer said...

Had such a good time! So good to meet all of you! Sorry I had to run out, but I had a blast!

Brian O'Blivion said...

LOL Larry Underwood!

Benny said...

Sounds and looks like some great fun. I wish I could have been there!

Jeff Heimbuch said...

I had a blast guys! Great to meet you all!
Sorry we had to leave early, the girl had work early in the morning!

Batcabbage said...

Nice one, guys! Great to see that you all got to meet. Now, if I could only get you all to Brisbane, Australia...

VW: shipinur - a drunk guy tries to describe a movie to you. "You know, the one with Kevin Spacey and that Dame Judi chick, The Shipinur...zzzzzzzz....."

Marebabe said...

I used to feel conflicted about going to the LOST Conference in Hawaii next January. A couple years ago I got fed up with the hassles of flying and took an oath that I would never fly again, no matter what I might have to miss. But then the longing to join in the fun of the conference and meet many of you kicked in, and for months there was tug-of-war messing up the comfortable living room of my brain. When I saw the awesome picture of you all everybody at last night’s clambake, my horror at the thought of commercial air travel just faded away. I will bravely cross a wide ocean to spend time with you delightful Nik at Niters next winter. For right now, though, I’ll waste a few minutes vainly wishing I could’ve been there last night!

Blam said...


The few hours were everything you'd hope for "Nik at Nite live" to be, except noisier. 8^)

I knew I'd be paying for it today, but I declare the experience to have been well worth both the insane drive up and missing out on seeing Iron Man 2 with friends opening weekend.

Of course, I'd like to have met even more of you, but such a small group meant that we pretty much all got to talk together — nice and rare, exactly how Joan likes her houseguests. Speaking of which: Yes, Boney Joan, I was thinking, This is probably what Joan of the Living Dead's place looks like, except a bit less tacky. Plus there was teasing of innocent children; right up your alley. Evil Blam would've been at home too.

VW: mytints

Whatcha gonna do with all them hues
All them hues up in your shoes?
I'm gonna make make make make you squint
Make your eyes squint with my tints
My tints
My lovely rainbow tints

Blam said...


PS: Blog-plugging time!

I know a bunch of you read Sonshine Music and AchingHope's blogs — and if you don't, you're missing out on nearly daily opportunities for a guaranteed smile.

You may also read TV Writer's blog, which I've enjoyed when I have partaken of it but keep falling behind on because I'm behind on the shows it covers (same thing happens with the top-notch television coverage of Ken Tucker, Maureen Ryan, James Poniewozik...)

I'm embarrassed to say that before meeting Kevie last night, however, I'd never clicked through his profile to access his blog, and this man can draw — you should go peek at his nifty Iron Man sketches immediately.

Nikki attracts quite the talented group of commenters, which is great, although it'd be even greater if we could only, in the words of the Hawking-Faradays, make time.

VW: handsme — What that witch at Jeckyll & Hyde does in her dreams. (She was totally into me. Right, guys? Guys?)

Rainier said...

I, too, wish I could've been there... sounds like a good time was had by all.

Thanks, Blam,for plugging Kevie's blog - I love those sketches!

JW said...

You guys all look great!

And for those of you who missed Jimmy Fallon's Lost Parody: http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/blogs/late/

Rebecca T. said...

@Blam: aww... thanks for the shout out :) I'm off to check your post and I'm gonna get one up about it probably tomorrow.

Also, I think you scared that witch pretty much. Yeah. I think you scared the entire cast. ;P

Nurse Brian said...

Looks like you guys had a lot of fun!

...totally jealous of course!

Ambivalentman said...

Looks like fun! Nikki, you'll have to make a West Coast trip sometime so we can dispel the ideas that you have some sort of "East Coast Bias."

Kevie Metal said...

Thanks for the plug, Blam.

Also, thank you for sitting directly to my right, thereby absorbing all the abuse from staff and children that otherwise would have come my way.

I have to give that hostess some props for the line: "Is this some kind of Star Wars thing?"

Jeff Heimbuch said...

Miss Misery (I'm pretty sure that was her name) was totally into you, dude.
And yes, the star wars line KILLED me. I died.

Anonymous said...

OH! You meant to say "left to right," not "right to left!" I visited yesterday and was trying to put names to faces and I thought, gee, that was kind of mean of Nikki to call some poor fan an "interloper." ROFL! It all makes sense now. :)

Blam said...


You're welcome, Kev... How'd you avoid it before I showed up, though? I don't imagine they'd fall for you pointing to the empty chair and saying, "No, you want to hassle our friend Jacob here."

"Is this some kind of Star Wars thing?" was hysterical. 'Cause she obviously got that it wasn't, exactly. Then she said something like "Just sit tight and hold onto your midichlorians," which is not something a non-geek pulls out of one's hat easily. My favorite return non sequitur was when she told the host that we were a bunch of Star Wars geeks and, by the way, I liked to dress up in women's clothes, and I responded by giving her the "Live Long and Prosper" salute.

Other than the noise, Jeff, the place was fun, so hopefully you didn't take me as knocking your suggestion. The abuse from the hosts was actually a welcome tension-easer after me being so danged late.

VW: Rathi — The puppydog mascot at Jeckyll & Hyde, named after Sir Basil.

Rebecca T. said...

@Blam: Actually, you being late did give us somebody to pass the hasseling off on. :) Every time they came by we just waved at the chair and said, "Brian's late." and they shook their heads and said they would make fun of you when you arrived :)

VW" fochar - to give particular attention to a specific character

Blam said...


Did anybody besides Nikki and me find Miss Misery familiar, by the way? I said she reminded me of someone and I knew, and Nik agreed, so we figured maybe her schtick echoed some TV character (minus the witch's wardrobe). Now I'm sure that she was familiar, and the actress is on the tip of my brain, but I can't quite place her.

VW: suristi — Armed militia led by Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes's daughter.

Rebecca T. said...

If you guys want, I put up my little post about our day and the dinner :)

Sonshine Thoughts

Blam said...


I just Googled < "Miss Misery" "Jeckyll and Hyde" Manhattan >... and discovered that I'd been spelling "Jekyll and Hyde" wrong. Of course, I blame it on Heckle & Jeckle.

The aim was to see if our hostess, who is likely a New York actress doing this gig between others, had some kind of résumé online (though I doubt she's the selfsame person of whom she reminded me, and also doubt that she lists Miss Misery in her bio, and also admit it's slightly obnoxious to spoil the mystery). I'll be late for dinner if I go through the results now, but one of the top few returns was Sonshine Music's post on Friday night's NANfest. Mine, which I neglected to explictly plug, went up yesterday.

VW: howiv — Michael Caine's Cockney interrogatory: "Howiv yeh bwekfift, den, Suh?"

Blam said...


Jinx!
... Okay, you were first.
Can't wait to read it!

Rebecca T. said...

Okay, I have to admit it's pretty cool to know I can be Googled.

Weird, but cool.

Of course, I doubt many people will be Googling "Jekyll and Hyde Miss Misery" but still...

VW: hotati - a cute name for someone really attractive?

TM Lawrence said...

Might as well take the opportunity right now to double dip: I'm glad you were able to meet up and it sounds like a fun time; and, Happy Mother's Day to Nikki and all the rest of you mothers and muthas out there!

Oh and I prematurely haiku'd while y'all were busy.

Kevie Metal said...

Blam: There was no avoiding it. I was made a complete fool of.

Now that you mention it, she did look a bit familiar. Oh wait, I just read Jeff's post, she must be that stalker that's been following me around. Glad to get that mystery cleared up.

Blam said...


At dinner tonight, my grandmother repeated her interpretation that V was Juliet's alternate flash / life after Lost. I felt I protested too much when I brought this up at dinner on Friday and then stated that she was still of remarkably sound mind at 94. What I didn't add was that her hearing has gotten worse, rapidly, these past few years, and she has macular degeneration, so she pulls up a chair very close to the TV, uses the closed captioning, and still misses an awful lot; it's not like normal conversation, where if she misses something she can ask us to clarify it or correct her misapprehension. I also neglected to mention that she hasn't actually seen V apart from the promos, which when they run during Lost may seem like part of the show to her. Tonight at dinner, my mother "corrected" both her and me after I said that the actress playing Juliet had switched shows, pointing out that the new show with people from Lost was FlashForward, not V, until I jogged her mind on Juliet. My point being that with the information as she receives it my grandmother's probably not any more confused than anybody else who watches these shows. 8^)

VW: caterb — The craft services table on Sesame Street.

Joan Crawford said...

Nigerian Internet Blam (too vague?), Does our Blam actually come with matching cheek dimples?

Blam said...


Yes he does. I had 'em even when going through Grandmom lovingly called my "awkward phase". Do they not show up in the emoticon?

Joan Crawford said...

If ever we meet in person Blamkins, two things will happen 1) I will never be able to call you Brian...I've just come too far with you as my Blam Casserole (do people even make 'ham casserole'?) and 2) I would end up staring at your dimples and wanting to put my finger in one while you spoke. "Oh, no, keep going, Blam Cake, I am hanging on your every word" *Pokes dimple with index finger*

VW: Unabl

I am so incompetent I can't even finish the word!

asiancolossus said...

Hey Nik! Sounds like a great time! I hope that you can have one in Toronto, even after the finale some time, I'd love to meet you finally and also our Toronto Nik at Nite family.

I'd also like to thank everyone on here who takes the Lostverse to the next level. Especially Blam, Benny, Sonshine, Batcabbage, in particular! At times I don't feel worthy of being in such intelligent company, but I'm peddling as fast as I can! :)

JoanieG said...

Hi all
Sorry for not posting earlier. Was out of town on Sat and Sun celebrating Mothers Day with daughters and grandchildren.

Had a WONDERFUL time Friday night. Great to meet so many people who I know from this blog. And with just nine of us, it was as intimate as it could get in this big, noisy place. Lots of laughs and lots of out-of-this-world Lost ideas and theories. Hope we can meet again.

By the way Brian...I think Mr. Lynch was also very much into you... and I hope you had less trouble getting home than you had coming into Manhattan.

Austin Gorton said...

Aw, jealous! A hundred times jealous!

@Kevie: have to give that hostess some props for the line: "Is this some kind of Star Wars thing?"

That's just awesome.

@Joan: "Oh, no, keep going, Blam Cake, I am hanging on your every word" *Pokes dimple with index finger*

I would pay money, serious money, to watch that scene as described.

Nurse Brian said...

Lastly, @Nikki @Everyone: I finally came around to reading Y: The Last Man, and I LOVE LOVED LOVED it! I've heard so many good things about it before, and when Nikki mentioned it the other day, I remembered about it and had some down time to read it. It's AWESOME! Nikki, I forget... did you have an individual post dedicated to Y: The Last Man, on your blog, or am I just CRAZY?! Does anyone else out there know?

Blam said...


First, My Little Joanie, a clarification: I have actually made a Cabbage-Patch face since your query and felt up my own dimples. (Jealous?) The possibility exists that they are not 100% exactly, totally the same in size and concavity.

If ever we meet in person Blamkins, two things will happen 1) I will never be able to call you Brian...

Plenty of people only call me Blam or Blamken in "real life". Most of them date from college or earlier and/or were folks I first met online; I don't introduce myself to people that way, but you would not be alone in doing so.

... and 2) I would end up staring at your dimples and wanting to put my finger in one while you spoke. "Oh, no, keep going, Blam Cake, I am hanging on your every word" *Pokes dimple with index finger*

Once again, you would not be alone in doing so. And something tells me you can't say that about yourself too often.

Blam said...


JoanieG: I think Mr. Lynch was also very much into you...

Ah! So glad you remembered his name... I hope you had a great Mother's Day.

Teebore: I would pay money, serious money, to watch that scene as described.

Perfect! Now we know how to fund a get-together in your neck of the woods. When do you fly us all out?

Jazzygirl said...

I'm simultanously jealous and happy for you guys. LOL!! What's worse? I'll be driving thru NYC THIS weekend. Argh! Love the pic and the comments on here. You guys are the best. Maybe someday more of us can get together.

Oh, and I was also confused by the "right to left" thing for a few minutes! LOL I thought the same thing...wow, some random lady jumped into the picture? What's worse, I'm so used to Nikki's snarkiness that I didn't question the comment! LMAO!

Jeff Heimbuch said...

I'm going to make it my personal mission now to find Miss Misery and find out who the heck she is!

And no worries, Blam. I know its a noisy place, but the characters definitely made it more...interesting. Haha. How's the wearing of woman's clothing going for you?

Unknown said...

I know I'm late on this but: Woohoo!!! I had such a great time!

Ahahaha... You all make me laugh.

It was a pleasure metting y'all and it would be GREAT to be able to meet more of you one day.

I admit, I was kinda' freaking out at first. I mean, what do your parents always tell you? Never meet people from the internet? But it wasn't awkward or weird or anything :)

And Mr. Lynch was hysterical.

JoanieG said...

@Aching Hope: In my case it was my daughters who told me to be careful about meet-ups with people from the Internet! LOL (I guess they retained what I taught them.)
Anyway, it was great meeting you et al.

Blam said...


I said the same in comments on Nikki's "While You Wait for Lost" post, but since it was an oblique topic of conversation here:

My post on the altered-universe theory that involved what Batcabbage has dubbed the infamous "mysterious napkin... of mystery" is now up — just in time for it to be totally debunked by tonight's episode.

Lost in Thought: Fixing a Hole (all my posts on the show are titled with Beatles songs)

VW: Osplashi — Japanese water park.

Batcabbage said...

@Blam: Hooray! furiously finishes writing Candidate haiku, puts on Sgt Peppers, and races to Blams blog.