Bad Apples

Last weekend, I went to NYC with my brother and his two friends, Alex and Paul.

It was an adventure. To say the least.

Our intention for  driving down was to see a concert on Long Island.

Brand New. Glassjaw. Thrice. Manchester Orchestra.

Amazing.

The show itself was outstanding. It was the first time I've seen Brand New in a giant-ass stadium and I'll never get over how mesmerizing it was hearing about 15,000 kids singing along to Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't.

Brand New is my favourite band, by the way. I have their lyrics tattooed on my arms and chest and have plans for more. Nobody writes quite like Jesse Lacey does.

We also went to see my dad and spent some time in NYC and managed to find a White Castle.

White Castle was sort of a priority, though.

I mean, come on. Slyders? Of course it's a priority. 

I took some pictures along the way. The rest are on my flickr page.

The trip consisted of a series of seriously overused one liners:

"Hawks Rule!" - 75% of the road trip attendees (ahem, not Alex, ahem) attended Loyola in Oakville, where the school mascot is a hawk. The actual Loyola Hawks don't rule at all. In fact, they suck. But hey, school spirit is always appreciated.

"hhsssssss, didwejusthavesex?" - We decided that it was actually from the movie Knocked Up, but it's appropriate in a variety of situations.

"It's come to my attention that there may be some bad apples in this crowd." - It's sort of from an episode of Family Guy.

There were a couple of others, but those were our favourites.

We also learned some valuable things while on this road trip:

1. According to these two Asian guys on Astor Place, if you're a guy and you dance with your hands above your shoulders, you're gay. If you keep your hands down below your shoulders, you're straight. And that's just how it is.

2. After watching some dudes in Harlem, apparently a new mating ritual involves stomping. We also witnessed more males stomping for ladies on Long Island, so it must be a new common "lady hunting" tactic. Stomping, who knew.

3. Never, ever eat at Arbys. We knew it was a mistake before we even walked through the door. But we still did it anyway. And regretted it instantly. And then regretted it again when we were all stuck in the car with re-circulating air.

4. Always turn right. Alex taught us this valuable lesson. Always go towards the right.

5. If you try to drive back into Canada Sunday evening during Thanksgiving Weekend, you will get stuck exactly 1.3km away from the border and it will take you approximately three hours to travel that distance. The following pictures are a result of the delirium we all experienced:

6. A White Castle Crave Case is best shared with friends, but don't go to the White Castle in Paterson, New Jersey. Because that one should be called 'Black Castle', especially as one of the drink options was a giant jug of orange Hi-C. I'll let you make all the jokes you want to.