New nightlife reporter Erik Maza tries to buy sunscreen, gets flat tire on first day
The first day at a new job is usually fraught with alarm, sweat-stains, disorientation. Not me. As Sessa wrote earlier, I'll be your new live music and nightlife reporter.
For my first day on the gig, I woke up eerily prepared. I ironed my shirt, didn't drop cereal on my pants, even added a dimple to my tie. Notes? Check. AP Style Book 2008 edition? Check. Missing from my to do list was some sunscreen. You know what they say: moisturize, moisturize. It was 7 a.m. and I didn't have to be in the newsroom for another two hours, so I drove to the nearest Rite Aid to my digs to be totally spiffed up for the office.
Ah, Greenmount Avenue in the morning. As I'm parking, BANG! PFFF! Had I been shot? It's only been a week, Baltimore! Turns out I'd driven too close to the curb and punctured my tire. Two hours before work. Great. Greenmount and 32nd St. -- just where you want to be with a pooped car. Did I mention I hadn't ever changed a tire before? Or that I'm the nightlife reporter, what in the world do I need sunscreen for? Que Sera Sera. This was my welcome.
Before coming here, I was a reporter at another whacko news town: Miami ...
In the land of leopard prints and the three horsemen of the apocalypse -- Lebron, Wade and Bosh -- I wrote cover stories on the little-known subculture of Cuban punk and Miami's merry band of deadbeat gamblers. I blogged on everything from why Marina Abramovic makes rich people cry to a top ten strippers list inspired by the New Yorker's 20 under 40 list. I might have also blogged about "Avatar" once or twice, and how it delighted gays and upset communists.
So why leave all that? Well, about three years ago Dan Deacon came to Gainesville, where I went to school. He hadn't become a Pitchfork darling yet, and there were maybe 50 people at the cavernous Common Grounds. Deacon, noticing the joint half empty, decides the only course of action is a dance-off, with him leading the charge. I hadn't seen another chubby white person dance so well since I saw Beth Ditto get down with The Gossip. In my mind, that was Baltimore: dance-offs, John Waters and Bubbles from "The Wire." My first week in town has only made me like it more.
I rode the circulator. Drank cheap beer at The Ottobar, and apparently missed John Waters by a hair. At Red Emma's, got accosted by crusty punk kids pushing their latest zines. And the other day stopped by what may be the greatest hair salon ever: Nappee by Nature, on York Road.
As a reporter in Features, everything interests me (see prior clips for reference), and not just stuff related to nightlife or live music. Send me tips, suggestions, alerts to the next warehouse party, new bar, or Nappee by Nature. I'm at ermaza@baltsun.com And remember kids, screw sunscreen.
[Twitter Midnight Sun]
(Photo from Who's Dated)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
Eric, as someone who grew up in the neighborhood, I say Greenmount & 32nd-no problem, Greenmount & 22nd? Big problem! Anyway, welcome to Baltimore! It sounds like you've already found some of the weird and wonderful. Hope you do run into John Waters the next time you're at the Ottobar!
Posted by: cabterp | September 7, 2010 3:36 PM
Welcome to Charm City and the Baltimore Sun! : ) See you around on Twitter!
Posted by: Bridget Forney | September 7, 2010 3:41 PM
This just feels all wrong...
Posted by: Rock Strongo | September 7, 2010 3:46 PM
Welcome to Baltimore, Erik!!
Posted by: Nakiya | September 7, 2010 3:56 PM
welcome to baltimore. sounds like it's charms (good and bad) have already begun.
Posted by: ryan97ou | September 7, 2010 4:03 PM
so does this mean I have to Ice you instead of Sam, coz I still need to do that at some point
Posted by: Evan | September 7, 2010 4:05 PM
@evan: arctic berry will do
Posted by: Maza | September 7, 2010 4:28 PM
Congrats, and welcome!
Posted by: CherylPR | September 7, 2010 4:58 PM
To make the world a little smaller:
The brewer at Titanic Brewing in Coral Gables learned his beer craft drinking good beer in the 1990s at the Last Chance Saloon, a bar that had 65 taps of micros, in Columbia.
Why, yes. I AM a beer geek. Ask Sammy-boy.
Posted by: Alexander D. Mitchell IV | September 7, 2010 5:16 PM
Hey man,
We need to get a photo of you ready for when they pull Sessa's. It should be a little more glamous than the Wanted Poster mug shot you currently have up on your Twitter page.
Posted by: GDA | September 7, 2010 7:49 PM
You've never changed a tire before?
1. Never admit that.
2 Never admit that.
Posted by: Rube Goldberg | September 7, 2010 8:08 PM
So newbie when you coming in for a drink off? See how well you can handle the sauce. And I don't sell any smirnoff ice so you are safe from Evan.
Welcome to bmore!
Posted by: John | September 7, 2010 9:20 PM
Welcome to Baltimore! you'll have to get to the idle hour for the chartuese, pickle backs and some good music
Posted by: jose | September 8, 2010 9:27 AM
Welcome aboard, never mind the bollocks at Red Emma's.
Posted by: Allan | September 8, 2010 9:35 AM
hey fresh meat- bet you didn't know Nappee by Nature is spelled that way becuz of a big tiff with the now non-existent Nappy by Nature of Mt. Vernon.
Posted by: Tif | September 8, 2010 10:34 AM
Wow Eric, already censoring posts. Didn't think what I said was all that bad. Epic fail.
Posted by: Rube Goldberg | September 8, 2010 12:35 PM
err, havent censored anything rube. if a comment wasn't posted, comment again!
Posted by: maza | September 8, 2010 12:59 PM
very nice, but tell us Mr. Maza, did your tie survive the flat tire debacle for your debut at The Sun? Fill us in.
And welcome to B-More.
Posted by: max fischer | September 8, 2010 1:22 PM
Dude can you get out a bar- there have been nothing but music posts since you signed on. You're new in town, you got alotta catching up to do.
Posted by: Tif | September 9, 2010 1:18 PM
Tif is right.
This is a hard drinking town and this is where the heaviest drinkers come for bar info, deals, and gossip.
Posted by: John | September 9, 2010 1:51 PM
John, I fly by your place every day- I would stop in but it's just at opening time and being the first drinker in a bar always makes me second guess myself
Posted by: Tif | September 9, 2010 2:06 PM
haha Tif, usually i've been here for hours cleaning or doing paperwork. No chance you would be the first person to drink here if you just get in at 5
Posted by: John | September 9, 2010 2:45 PM
I think I was the first person in there drinking yesterday til the other guy who I paid my tab to grabbed a beer!
Posted by: Tif | September 10, 2010 9:25 AM