FIRST YEAR IN NYC

So today marks the first full year i've lived in NYC.... it's been interesting (how could it not)

but here are some of the highlights (not necessarily in order)

- moving into a room that had 2 outlets... on the same wall, one about waist height, the other 2ft below it.

- having Melo install a socket on the other side of the room... thanks bro!

- attending the inauguration in DC with my brother... and yeah, a few other folks.

- having a landlord who looked just like Christopher Walken (and imitated his voice as well)

- realizing rule #1 in NYC: it cost $100 whenever you walk out your front door

- buying a electric mattress pad (and an air-conditioner)

- discovering the benefits of Zipcar

- Watching JD BBQ solo in the backyard at 10:30 at night when it was 35 degress outside.

- walking thru "shanty-town" during Kate's visit in which half a dozen dudes threw themselves at her...

- Meeting Katherine, and taking risks.

- having my wallet stolen with all my CC's and ID.

- trying to recover my CC's and ID

- My (dear dear friend) Justin, going to my storage unit in SF & getting them to saw off the lock

so he could find my (buried) passport and FedEx it to me, thereby restoring my identity.

- Having Liza Minnelli make a pass at me, then seeing her flash her boobs at the end of the shoot.

- Melo & Suneil visiting me for NYE (I dont know if you two know how much that meant)

- Watching Suneil smuggle a bottle of Grey Goose out of a club on NYE only to drop it when we got out of the cab.

- Listening to Anna GS chat about pretty much anything.

- Pauly G's quips, tag lines, and snide remarks..... do battle!

- Seeing my old friend Holly and her crew for Halloween.

- dinner at Chau & Brian's

- listening to Giselle Bundchen babble on about how massages make your skin break out.

- seeing real-live wise-guys (as well as virtually every other American stereotype)

- learning to never rely on the g-train.... or any train for that matter.

- learning that it is indeed possible to completely skip the season of Spring.

- The Bolt Bus to Maine to hang with Kate and the fam, being jumped into the Tarr/Cahill family like it was a gang initiation, then having drinks with Welsh while (another) drunk dude tried to pick up Kate.

- moving to 5th and Bedford, inches from the L train.

- starting my own business: www.rgbfastfashion.com

ESPN.com photo shoot

This was an definitely an interesting shoot... total guerilla-style-ambushing regular people off the streets of NYC and convincing them to model various snowboard gear for an ESPN.com product review. My man Tracy Anderson that I used to work with at Swell.com about 10 years ago contacted me and we loaded up the car with snowboarding gear, minimal lighting gear, a list of typical "NYC characters" to shoot, and hit the streets really not knowing what would happen, or even if we'd be able to pull this thing off... it was totally free-styled but we managed to make moves even when it was raining, as well as not get a single parking ticket in the process.

There were plenty of people who turned us down, but then again there were a

surprising number of people were willing to go along with it, however they usually ran out of patience within 10 minutes and needed to get on with their day.... (besides the homeless guys of course)

photos from last week....

i love this spot, it looks almost like a studio.

photoshoot with the lovely Elen- thanks Courtney!

new work

RGB website in the works.

Yes! A NEW DAY!

i know... sort of late in the game, but just getting on board with the blogging thing.... let's see how this goes!