PX This.

Vanilla Ice: … And so, your little quote in New York magazine a couple weeks back inspired me to take you for a stroll through the mall…
abbe diaz: sigh. so sad, isn’t it? we’re all getting old…

VI: Have you seen it yet?
ad: not yet— so i appreciate the photos.

VI: And? So? Whattya think?
ad: well i did walk by on the 20th street side last week prior to the opening on friday, and i noticed what was once the former "employee entrance" is still under construction. that particular little entry foyer led up the stairs the back way to the bathrooms, and on the ground level leading off to the left side of the stairs used to be "chapel." so it would appear they’re still doing construction and aren’t quite utilizing the entire space. and that perhaps would explain why your photos make the space look so much smaller than i remember it.
anyway, it’s not like the renderings or the snazzy PR pics i’ve seen. all those looked so swanky and flashy, but this just looks kinda tacky.

VI: Oh, yeah. Having seen it with my own two eyes, I’d say "tacky" is an apt description… Does it even look familiar to you?
ad: well the overall basic structure is discernible, obviously— but i’m having a little difficulty making out which direction you’re facing. if i’m not mistaken, the arched stained glass would be the stage side of the main level aka "disco" and the big round stained glass would be the opposite end, which would have been directly behind "disco bar."
and evidently, they extended the widths of the mezzanine walkways…

VI: What do you think of the concept overall?
ad: well, from a purely practical and objective standpoint, i suppose it’s something of an astute way to generate income from a building that’s essentially obsolete otherwise. clearly, the city’s current (and likely, future) administrations would never have allowed another Limelight to exist in any way reminiscent of its former incarnation. i can’t exactly say i’m against resurrecting the space in a viably profitable way, but it’s really a shame they made no effort at all with this new venture to embody the former spirit of such a legendary entity.
the city is awash with talented (but struggling) artists, artisans, and craftsmen. to turn over the space to pretentious jellybeans and chocolate is something of a travesty.

VI: Oh, snap! They had Hunter® wellies and flipflops, too— if that’s any consolation?
ad: ha ahaa, hardly. oh but don’t mind me— i’m maybe just having bitter flashbacks or something. i mean—
MarieBelle chocolate? ugh christ. (oh haa christ… Limelight… no uhh pun intended.)
i guess what i’m trying to say is, maybe this is all striking just a little too close to home for me or something. cuz like— MarieBelle is owned/operated by maribel-lieberman, the wife of jacques-lieberman, my former commercial landlord when i once had a flagship boutique for geld-iaz. as you may or may not know, MarieBelle’s (first) store is located at 484 Broome St— all the (five) ground floor commercial spaces of which are owned by jacques-lieberman.
if it weren’t for this convenient little arrangement to which MarieBelle is uniquely privy, i’d imagine you’d be rather hard pressed to find an artisanal chocolatier who could succeed in a space with a current market value in probably the $30K+ per month range. you see my point?
i’m just sayin.

but i think what’s pissing me off even more, is that the new MarieBelle in the Limelight appears to be located in the mezzanine over what would have been "disco bar." it’s that very same mezzanine under which were once installed large spotlights to help illuminate the bar and dance floor. well, one night during work while i was bartending, one of those spotlights came loose from all the bouncing around and stomping up there, and fell down directly over me, bonking me right on the noggin. huey-morgan (currently of Fun Lovin’ Criminals) was my barback at the time, and even he couldn’t believe i didn’t pass out from the accident. i ended up with a mild concussion and aches in my neck and back for a week.

ha ha ahaa so ya know— fuck those chocolates.

VI: LOL! Huh, I think there may even be "a moral in there someplace." ‘Nuff said. Aaaand, that’s a wrap!
ad: good. i love a short interview.

It’s Friday, let’s dance! In keeping with New York Magazine‘s upcoming article on the legendary Limelight and its impending transition into a shopping mall— PX This urges you to: WORRRK.

(If Madonna calls, I’m at "Boom Boom.")

As the Limelight “Mall” nears completion, PX This would like to mark the occasion by presenting the following excerpts from PX This – Diary of the “Maitre d’ to the Stars”:

[** REVISION: This post has been updated in recognition of the release of Limelight the documemtary, premiering September 23, 2011. **]

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2000. 8:33AM

… speaking of Palladium. So I finally got up the guts to call Alessandra Gatien. I have been thinking about her a lot lately, she’s pretty cool. I don’t think I ever mentioned about the meeting we had a whiles back, I was going to put a little Geld Iaz showroom dealie inside the new Limelight, but obviously it never panned out. Anyways holy cow, that Alex Gatien really impressed me intellectually, she is so smart, she practically knocked me out of my chair. And you knooow I ’m not awed that easily, especially by girls because usually they’re so fucking stupid. Anyhow, so all those “dragon lady” things everybody said about her— whatever— she is not messing around. Dragon lady or no dragon lady she got it going on, heehee eheee that poor one eyed fuck never stood a chance.
We chatted about websites and she showed me the new logo she designed for Limelight, it was great. Simple, just circular gradiated white center to green edge inside a sphere. To signify “captured light”— she said: “After what I’ve been through, that is how I feel. Like I captured light.”
And it was absurd, she showed me some fifty page “catalog” and it’s literally 500 of the ugliest unimaginative most generic logos you’ve ever seen. She said she was appalled, at first she tried to hire some graphics company but they wanted big money for this, “they take the letter L and the color lime and they plug it into a computer” and it spits out these McLogos and then you’re supposed to just pick one. Can you imagine, how lame.
She said she likes the Geld Iaz logo too, she is attracted to circles just like I am. That’s a “very Japanese” fungshooey thing apparently.
So there we were conversing all about other small business stuffs and the subject drifted to marketing and advertising and so then she gave me fun facts like: “to put your ad on the side of one bus is $30G’s but to put them on all the buses and all the stops is a mere $100G’s, see how fucked up it is?” And then she busts out with this web development outline talking about how she is learning HTML because all the web building companies want to charge her an arm and a leg and so she is simply going to build the website herself, she had projections for streaming deejays from around the world and Limelight albums and souvenirs and paraphernalia and geezus all manner of other money making hullabaloo …

SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 2001. 9:45AM

… so anyhoo! Eric Goode’s brother… knows Baunau the ho-stess, and so he just randomly walks up to us at the podium one night and he says to Baunau “pleeease set my brother up with somebody.” And then they wander off together to chitchat. About a minute later Baunau comes back and immediately asks me if I "have a boyfriend?" So I reply yes and right away she asks “is it serious?” eeheee ha ha ahaa. Hellooo, can you imagine? Eric Goode! I am kinda a little in awe of him, you know. He’s one of my idols— Area and MK, how fierce is he. Even Andy Warhol says Eric Goode is great, come on now. Ha ha ahaa, if I were single and dated him, I would Alessandra-Gatien that boy so fast he would not know what hit him…

For more information about PX This – Diary of the "Maître d’ to the Stars" visit http://pxthis.com/thebook/

PX Me – The Sequel to PX This
(How I Became a Published Author, Got Micro-Famous,
and Married a Millionaire)
- COMING SOON IN THE SPRING OF 2012 -

* * * * *

Have you heard?
Until the release of PX Me – The Sequel to PX This (Spring 2012), this website will henceforth be updated only intermittently (approximately once or twice a week).
Abbe Diaz’s new (daily) blog is now at: abbediaz.com

*

… came into existence and utterly devastated nightlife, special guests of the clubs were given “drink tickets” as a token of appreciation for their patronage, decorum and all around magnificence. Indeed, the true mark of a PX was measured in the enormity of one’s “stack.” The drink ticket (stamped nightly on the back with varying images) was the one bestowable voucher that could conceivably make an individual more popular than the coke dealer.

Cheers to the good ol’ days.

*Thanks to Joyce Bagner Hetherington