Last night I scored an invitation to Gracie Mansion for a reception to welcome the Country Music Awards to New York City. It was my first time at Gracie and the place is quite swanky. Leading into the place I walked on a red carpet lined with paparrazzi. Nice! Now, I am not a country music fan at all and had to be told by my co-workers when I was standing next to someone famous. For example, while I was getting a glass of white wine, there was a very attractive woman near me who was garnering lots of attention from everyone else. I asked my co-worker Portia who that was. Her reply was "Leanne Rimes." Then there was an older guy in the same room who was also garnering lots of attention. My co-worker Bob gave me his camera and asked me to take a picture with him. Which I did. Afterwards I asked who I just took a picture of. Bob's reply was "Glen Campbell."

One person who I DID know of was Mayor Bloomberg himself. At these Gracie Mansion receptions, the guests stand on a line with our names and addresses printed on cards. We then give the cards to a staff member and the Mayor takes individual pictures with each guest. An 8 x 10 picture is then mailed to each person. So I'm on the line and when it's my turn, I say hello to the mayor, shake his hand and we turn toward the camera. At which point it runs out of film and the cameraperson has to reload. So Bloomberg and I stand there, still in a handshake as the cameraperson does her thing. I wished him congratulations on his victory. Then he asked me my name. I told him and he said to his staff "Make sure that Phil's card is the first one for this next role of film." Finally I get my picture taken and was whisked off as the line resumed. Not that this was my first funny meeting with Mike Bloomberg. Last year I met him at Coney Island and he gave me a kazoo. But that's another story.

So after getting my picture taken, we were offered a tour of Gracie. Since Bloomberg doesn't live there and the bedrooms are vacant, we were allowed to go upstairs and look around. We were shown the master bedroom where other mayors have stayed and all I could think about were the fights that Rudy Giuliani and Donna Hanover must have had in that room.

And on another note, I am co-hosting Tuesday Night Trivia tonight at the Baggot Inn! It's at 7:30 on West 3rd Street between Sullivan and Thompson. Hope to see some of you there.