In December I took a fun filled trip to NYC, to visit my significant other. This was my very first time in NYC, the land of the Ramones.

Evan (the boyfriend extrodinare) had a show the first weekend I was there with MU330. Sitting in that Club, I realized that the venues of NYC are different, they just kinda have this glow to them, it's like all the ghosts of punk Rock past are lost in the walls. I was just waiting for Johnny Thunders to come out of the wall and grab me.

Being from Texas, there are not allot of Punk Rock legends to go around. So my first lesson was Desensitization. Seeing Joey Ramone walk down the road for a Texan is an altogether experience. On the other hand for a seasoned New Yorker its just another day in the life.

New Yorkers get the best of it all. They have everything at their little fingertips. The best shows, the best venues, the best video and music stores. That hard to find CD in Texas has now become quantity of five sitting on the shelf of a local Record shoppe. That Twenty-five dollar import CD has now become twelve -dollars. That movie that was never released on Video in Texas is sitting on the shelf happily waiting to be taken home.

New York also has People and lots of them. Important people, People who think they are important, people who are lost, and people who aren't lost. I got to meet some of those people. I expected NYC to have the meanest people, but they were some of the nicest people I had ever met. Throughout my little NYC travels' friends of Evan soon developed a name for me all my own "Miss Texas" and they were all shocked that I did not have a southern Twang when I talked, it was almost is if I had disappointed them.

Well, the moment of truth soon came, the meeting of the Punk Rock Icons. First on the list (because I was scared of Joey Ramone) was Jeff Magnum, bassist for the Dead Boys. He was the funniest and most bitter man I had ever met. He and his girlfriend started to give me the Magnum family NYC verbal tour. Did you go here? Have him take you here? From them I learned of the best pizza places in all of NYC and, I also learned that it is extremely hard to find Fried chicken in the city ( which as a Texan I was already super hungry for) .

From there I moved on to Mickey Leigh one of my favorite characters from the Leggs McNeil book "Please Kill Me." Because of my Texanniss people always felt compelled to tell me Texas stores...the last time I was in Texas, Blah Blah Blah...From Mickey Leigh I learned that not all tour buses make it to their destinations in Texas, some get lost somewhere along the way.

Well, from there I sat and chatted with Peter Crowley (owner of Max's Kansas City) Evan had this very unique way of not telling me who I was talking to and well that helped a great deal. I would sit and talk hours to people and find out on the way home, who they were. I must have talked to Peter Crowley for 2 hours, having no earthly idea that this was the man that wouldn't let Patty Smith and Robert Maplethorpe into his club, because at the time they just weren't cool enough. Funny.

I met many others after that. George Tabb (Evan's best friend), the guitarist for Murphy's law, Mykel Board (MRR columnist), The Sisters Grimm, the blanks 77, the guitarist for Blondie, Dee Dee Ramone, and all the many fabulous others that make the NYC scene what it is..... But, nothing and I mean nothing could prepare me for what I had to do, meet THE Joey Ramone. That was possibly the scariest thing I had ever done, in my whole Life. I have been a die hard Ramones fan for over 13 years and well, this was the moment. Many times before I had an opportunity to meet him but I would chicken out about 5 feet away from him. You must remember IM a Texan these people aren't just hanging around on the street corners down here. Finally Evan convinced my that if I didn't do It I never would forgive myself, and well I realized at that moment he was right. The introduction came, I didn't slobber all over myself or bite my tongue like I had imagined and Joey was Great. He was so super nice to me. He even pronounced my name right on the first try it was amazing. I was impressed and no longer in shock.

Well, at the end of my trip I surveyed all the goodies that I had bought. Funny, I didn't buy a million records, more like a million comics. I had in my possession a million flyers that said CBGB's, the Continental and Coney Island High on them and 3 records the Clash (12' single), The Addicts "Complete singles Collection" and The Ramones "pleasant Dreams" (my favorite album). I hoped on the plane and well wondered if any of my friends were going to believe me. Probably not, but who cares.

Euxine

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