Ryan McGinness' Fishing Party

Last night I had one of those old skool New York nights, random and kewl. On my way home from an event, I noticed a bunch of objects floating and bouncing before me (I wasn't on drugs or drink, only Malaysian roti). On closer look I saw that they were tied to an end of a string. I looked far up to the top of the building to find a buncha folk with fishing rods. Of course, there was a guy sitting in a chair on the street. I asked what's going on? Then a folded up piece of paper fell in front of my face. I think that's for you, dude in chair said. So I take it off the hook. Alana wants to give you a warm hug. Well, um, ok. I ask dude, is Alana cute? He didn't know Alana. So I walk my way up I think 8 flights of stairs in this loft building. I get to the top floor and there are a bunch of smelly real fish hanging off hook & wire from the ceiling. Gone Fishing, was scrawled at the end of the hall. I made my way into the loft space, and was promptly tagged and led to the fish tank (an area blocked off by wall size plastic wrap) by the person who's line I took. Yes, I was the fish that was caught. And our fisherman came in often to check on us, make sure we had everything we needed to keep us happy in the tank.

I discovered that it was contemporary superstar artist Ryan McGinness' loft. He had proposed to do 50 parties in one year, every Friday, with a different theme. A custom-made-black-card carrying members only party. Last week was paintball. Last night's was fishing. The theme was delightfully thorough. He was dressed in overalls and a big messy straw hat, as were his friends. There was a bowl of fish. Snacks included swedish fish, goldfish crackers, fish sticks, breaded nuggets in fish shapes. At midnight, fish-shaped trophies were given to winning fishers in different categories. Most caught. Heaviest catch. Tallest catch. etc. Fish in the tank were given hefty tequila shots and told to drink like a fish. Since I just had surgery, I was granted leniency. Then there was the live fish eating competition. Middle-weight older dude swallowed his whole. Younger foreign hipster, chomped on his. They both went to ten. Chomp chomp chomp. DISGUSTING!!!!!! That part of the evening was unbearable. Other than that, it was a fun night. Met some cool folks. And went home with one of those red fortune telling fish! THAT, I was really psyched about.