Tim and Jeremy are both waiters at a restaurant in downtown New York City. During slow times at work, to stave off boredom when it is slow, the two young men draw pictures. These pictures are made using ink and what is called the "Triple Dupe Pad," a book of paper used to place orders in the kitchen. The drawings usually take about a week to make, all the while also being used by fellow employees to take orders; this sometimes leads to other collaborators or in a couple cases, to the loss of the work. The drawings are then scanned and colored in Photoshop where they come to life in stunning technicolor! The subject matter varies from piece to piece, as they are made over a long course of time and under various moods and states of mind. They all retain a playfulness that serves as a coping mechanism after spending a night catering to the endless needs of hungry patrons.

Friday, January 20, 2012

#34 "Conquest Portaiture" April 30, 2011

(Click on the Image to Embiggen!)

I started working at the Cafe Loup in the year 2002. So, this February will be 10 years of service at that fine establishment. I took a couple summers off between now and then and a couple months here and there for vacations and tours and all that nonsense, but the past 10 years of my life have been spent in it's warm cocoon of an environment. A lot has changed in that time, and yet, the Cafe Loup remains pretty much unchanged. The same dishes, the same pictures on the wall, a lot of the same staff, the same cooks. It's a funny thing to be nostalgic for a job, especially when you are still working at the place, but I sometimes do feel that. I can break down the years at Cafe Loup into neat little boxes, like seasons of your favorite television series. Remember in Season 2 when Julian did that crazy thing with his hair? Remember in Season 5 when Tim joined the cast? It's funny because it's true. Every season of the Cafe Loup, in my mind starts right around September and goes through the whole year. Although I guess it would be better television if the season started in February and went from there. That way, you could end the season with a Christmas Episode or a New Years thing. Either way, that is how I look at my last 10 years at the place; in Season Form. Now we are approaching Season 10 (or is it 11?) and I almost feel nostalgic for the past seasons. This new one will bring lots of laughs and good times, I'm sure, along with crazy people, drunks, and violence. This makes for good television. I'm sure I've mentioned my idea of making Cafe Loup the Musical on this here blog in the past, but I am going to bring it up again. The idea would be to get all the best stories from the Cafe Loup and put them into some sort of show. I call it The Musical because music is such a huge part of the Cafe Loup. Everyone is always singing something, and certain music reminds you of certain times. Like the year we listened to that Norah Jones CD every night for the whole year until I stole it and destroyed it, only to find a new copy waiting for me when I came in the next week. Or that Christmas shift when Jim brought in the karaoke versions of the songs from "Wicked" and sang along with it. How about Little Jose singing Celine Dion all the time and dancing around using his apron like a skirt? It would all make for a great show that no one would watch sober. Because, let's face it, people like the Cafe Loup a little buzzed. usually the people who do all the complaining are the ones who aren't drinking, and the drinkers are usually the ones who have the most fun there. I think it's because the drinks are huge and cheap and strong as hell. It could also be that the Cafe Loup seems a little warmer when you've had a martini or 3. At any rate, someone should give me a couple million dollars and we can write the show and have ourselves a hit on Showtime. I've already got 10 seasons written and we can use the flashback technique to show the 25 years the Loup was around before I got there. We have 35 years of insanity to work with here, people! Let's do it!

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