Zygo Wins The Pennant - The Shot Heard Round The World
Ron and I are big baseball fans. He likes the Yankees and I am the distraught Mets fan. Yes, it was tough to play my usual dejected role this past season since the Mets did make it to the NLCS. There was baseball in Queens long after the Bronx Bombers headed home. Sorry Ron.
Well, everyone knows the story of the underdog 1951 New York Giants baseball team and how they came back to win the Pennant during the final game of a playoff series on a bottom of the ninth home run from Bobby Thomson. This is now known as "the shot heard round the world." As Thomson rounded the bases, the famous Giants play-by-play announcer Russ Hodges yelled, "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!"
As a small company dwarfed by foreign liquor multinationals, we at Zygo understand the meaning of underdog and the importance of the clutch hit. It came as a surprise to learn that the folks at Liquor Snob picked Zygo over P.I.N.K. as the leading vodka infused with ingredients like taurine, guarana, etc. You can read this review at:
Liquor Snob
It makes us proud to be recognized by an authority on quality spirits like Liquorsnob. However, we are equally pleased with the personal reviews sent to us by Zygoistas throughout the world. Everyday, our e-mail fills up with notes from admirers or wannabe new members of the Zygo Republic looking for our ambrosia. In the end, nothing against P.I.N.K. but when my Mets play Ron's Yankees, I have to root for the boys from Shea. Sorry again Ron. Sorry P.I.N.K. Peace.
posted by: Ken | Dec 1 2006 | 0 comments.
Despite the rain, Milwaukee still rocks.
If you are reading this, you got here before Harold could log in and delete this posting on "his" blog. I hope that he allows Johnny Drama (me) a cameo role here on the Zygo network. Well, I sit at Midway for my delayed flight. The first snow blow of the season is causing havoc here at Midway. Anyway, I have some time to recap the week passed. Harold and I got off the plane here at Midway on Monday morning at 8am. We jumped in our rental and drove up to Zygo Nirvana AKA Wisconsin. It was cloudy and rainy all week though the sun tried to peek out over the lake. Milwaukee is the home of the Milwaukee Art Museum (see pic) designed by Santiago Calatrava who is one ot the premier architects living today. This pic shows a sunny lake view which was wishful thinking this foggy week. Besides this wonderful building, the Brew City is also home to an equally beautiful contingent of Zygo enthusiasts who force our nectar on us from arrival to departure. It has been three years since we started selling Zygo in Wisco and have made many friends working in the local establishments including Hi Hat, Bayou, Rain, Sake Tumi, Kenedees, Euro Bar, Flannery's, Wicked Hop and others too numerous to mention. In terms of Zygo molecules per square foot, Rascals on the east side of town is the Sugar Ray Robinson of Milwaukee bars. Sugar Ray was not that big but he packed a huge punch. It is always nice to be in MKE for the Zygo induced fun and the many friendships we have developed. Tanya: thanks for the double espresso!! A special shout out to Edison Liquors. These boys are more than our local distributor. Edison is part of the Zygo revolution. Happy Holidays, Brew City babies!! See you in January.
posted by: Ken | Nov 30 2006 | 7 comments.
Ron's a Criminal!
So RZ was leaving the bunker today over on Rivington street. In a fugue of Zygo bliss, he was putting a Zygo sticker on a lamp post in the sightline of the police. They pulled up next to him and put him through the 3rd degree, ran his name through their computer and then set him on his way. I guess it pays to be 40 when tagging up the neighborhood? If it had been my ass, I'd probably get arrested! I'm probably still goiing to be the first one out of us to get put in the slammer for some work related naughtiness.
Funniest part of this whole thing is when the cruiser pulled up next Ron, they asked him "What are you doing?" Without missing a beat RZ said, "I'm promoting my business."
Maybe the moral of this story is Honesty always pays off.
Oh and I promise to have some more info up here in the next day or so. We've been traveling a lot and I have a ton of pics from the journey.
posted by: Harold Joyce | Sep 18 2006 | 4 comments.
Robot Arms, Zygo, Energy, Flight Attendents, Merlin, and a happy piece of paper having a cocktail
What a great fucking night last night. Heres the rundown on the event:
FunkNYC and Brothers'Brothers present:
TURBULENCE
Galapagos Art Space
Thursday, June 22, 10-4am
-Join us for a mile-high journey into the realm of cutting edge electronica. Featuring an exclusive engagement with Berlin-based DJ, producer, and label owner Aaron Hedges. Now on its 11th release, Aaron's brainchild, District of Corruption, has gained the attention of Jeff Mills, Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villalobos, Kid 606, and Larry Tee just to name a few. Don't miss this rare chance to catch Aaron's first New York appearance in years.
-Vintage Airline Videos and 70 Proof Regime Secret Open Bar 10-11 by Zygo. Go-Go stewardesses by Tali De'Mar. Additional dirty electro and kick-rockin' techno beats from Japanster, Rok-One, Mesh, and the infamous Brothers'Brothers.
Stewardess outfits by Elena Vazintaris
Aaron Hedges (Berlin)
Japanster (Paris)
Rok-One of The Bangers (NYC)
Mesh (NYC)
Brothers'Brothers (NYC)
Tali De'Mar
Last Nights Party
Robot Arms Clothing Company
Thanks to Tali DeMar and her vixens for rocking Elenas stewardess outfits like hot ass aliens looking for a flight out of Williamsburg. David
for putting together a great event and of course Bronques (who I didnt recognize with a sideways hat instead of a wig) who without even seeing me there went directly over to a Zygo bottle and started making people do naughty acts with it
..my poor molested bottle of Zygo Vodka
.keep the energy high baby and well have more photos up after Nicos Bday at Sui.
posted by: Harold | Jun 23 2006 | 6 comments.
Mike Patton's Peeping Tom & another night out with The Sick List
I figured that if I sit plugged into music all day while selling Booze, I should at least share some of the great shit I come across.....For the last 2 weeks or so, thanks to a review on Crown Dozens Blog , I've been listening to a few songs off Mike Patton's new album everyday. It's called Peeping Tom and it's some of the best shit he's done since the first album of Mr. Bungle. The entire album is collaborations between him and a slew of amazing aretists: Bebel Gilberto, Norah Jones, Kool Keith, Massive Attack, Rahzel, Dub Trio, Odd Nosdam, Amon Tobin, Kid Koala, Dale Crover, and several of Patton's Bay Area running buddies, such as Dan "the Automator" Nakamura, and Jel, Odd Nosdam and Dose One of hip hop collective Anticon. It wasn't until then that I realized Dub Trio, which are amazingly innovative mfers, are signed to Patton's label Ipecac. URB and Zygo did an event with them over a year ago at Joe's Pub. There were about 5 bands, but Dub Trio just blew everyone away and now I'm seeing their name all over. Their track on Peeping Tom is my highlight, but every track is worth buying. If anyone gets word of them playing here you better give me a heads up.
Check out the pics section too. You'll see we had another night with Emily and The Sick List. They're definitely coming together as a band and I'm glad to see Emily any time! And of course it helps that they played at R & R on 14th, which is a recent Zygo account. It's the only haven for tattooed metal heads in the Meatpacking district, so you know it makes me happy. There was also this strange man lying in front of the bar completely wrapped in a rug, with a hole cut out for his face. Well, look at the pics and you'll understand.
Also check out this band from Stolen Transmission
Monty Are I Pretty badass and you have Sarah to thank for bringing them to the masses.
Well, this week should be fun, and if you're down -come to Galapagos Art Space in Williamsburg for an event we're sponsoring Thursday night. Or Come the birthday of one of our favorite agents of the Zygo
cause, Nico Reyes of the Reed Space & Staple Design. WE LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU!
posted by: Harold Joyce | Jun 21 2006 | 0 comments.
MASS APPEAL ISSUE# 40 - A SALUTE TO ZYGO WITHIN
the Zygo Goodness. It was a great way to start the day, stumbled out of bed @ 11, walked over to Reed Space and picked up the new issue and wham - one of my favorite mags again preaching the Zygo Gospel. So the list of thanks for this one goes a little something like this: Joanne Carolino, you're a fast talking Asian goddess, Mac thanks for setting up the interview and abusing your liver, and Annmarie Donnegann for just nailing our spirit when writing the review. We love you guys and THANK YOU! Mass Appeal get it now, it's headed to my bathroom for a good read and then on to the archives of Zygo Propaganda. Oh and the red bottle next to that sexy ass bottle of Zygo is our new baby Shango Rum.
And Adam at Local 138, thanks for the two lemons. Elena needed them for a late night salad and there was nothing open. LEMONS MMMMMM!!!!!
posted by: Harold Joyce | Jun 15 2006 | 0 comments.
LIQUOR SNOB, STILL, SLASHFOOD, FAUST R AGENTS OF THE REGIME!!!
The artwork above is from legendary writer Faust. After he saw his handsome ass picks on the blog I got this in the mail. Gotta say I love it. Ken wanted to put it on a shirt like the next day. Tryin to save some dough right now, so that ain't happening too soon. We might just print up a few limited edition Tees and ask Faust to sign them, but man good shirts are expensive. The ones we have are pretty limited as is, and they look pretty dope. We only give them out to Agents of the cause, not like other companies that get shit shirts printed up and give them out like dish rags.
Liquor Snob has turned out to be a bunch of Kings. They put some raving reviews of our products on their site for Zygo Energy Vodka and 44 North . The people over there really dig our stuff and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside like feathers on my taint, lovely, really lovely. Their site's pretty badass. They've got this whole non-pretentious way of getting the skinny on brands. It's really great when people get what you're doing and are able to say it like a rock star. So to Jake at Liquor Snob, we anoint thee an agent of the cause. You are now one of the 70 Proof Regime. You will get your super secret decoder ring in the male. Just don't lock your self in the bathroom with hand lotion. Love ya.
I also wanted to give a warm thanks to Nicole Weston at the Slashfood Blog. She gave us some props on there and its a nice read I must say. Not as racy (which we love racy), but just as pointed and important. Thanks Nicole....and guys check out the review: Slashfood Zygo Vodka Caffeine Review
This was a great week for us again. A ton of new spots across the land and we met some awesome cats spreading our name around. There are actually people out there on both sides of the bar that appreciate the fact we're not making crap, carpet bombing the neighborhood, and then running away to let the bottles collect dust. A couple of those dudes worthy of mention are the crew at Still. This is a great bar and when I got there our bottles were all 3/4 empty. The entire group there is great. In the pics you'll see the manager and bartender having a fight with the Zygo bottles "PRODUCT SHOT"
Well that's it for now, but I've got a lot of stuff coming up in the next few days so the blog should be pretty active. I promise no pictures of my bare ass!
posted by: Harold Joyce | Jun 14 2006 | 1 comment.
Does Zygo Get phony Fluff pieces in the POST? NO!! We go until 6am and drink!!
The thing that brings me the most joy are the nights out with bartenders. Its probably the reason why I do 90 percent of my work in bars. How the hell else are you going to build a movement without giving a shit about the people serving it first. Well, last night was filled with reminders as to why we do what we do. Elena and I met up with the waitresses from Dip at PM nightclub in the meatpacking to get our pre-drink on. Dip has been doing so fucking well with our brands that it was time we showed our appreciation to the people making it happen. PMs signature cocktail, of course is Zygo, Passion fruit and I think lime
pretty damn good. After that we headed out across 9th Ave. to One Little West 12th street to see Bernie Bernstein, GM extraordinaire. About 2 years ago, One picked up about 5 cases (12 bottles each) of Zygo because Bernie thought it was the tits. After the purchase I was out of town for a couple of weeks. When I got back there was already a reorder for a few more cases. Turns out that Bernie turned his entire staff onto it and it became his personal house drink, with the One Bellini (Zygo included) on the menu. Bernie we really appreciate all the love, and I hope weve done right. The food there is great and the barstaff is great group of Brooklynites from my old neighborhood in Bayridge. I highly recommend it. Ask Mr. Bernstein to show you a little of his flair bartending which is definitely an under appreciated art here in New York. It was really great to see you Bern, and we look forward to seeing the new ideas you have for Zygo. Much Love!!!
After countless rounds at One, me and the girls headed over to le souk. Their Sunday night has been and industry standard for 6 years now. I cant believe le souk has been open now for 6 YEARS. Well it was my cherry for Zygo, meaning it was the first account I sold it into three years ago. They really got what we were doing with Zygo and supported from the beginning. I also think Marcus drank half of it just to jump start our biz there. I didnt get to see Marcus, but Sam Jacob was there. Me and Elena caught a rare pic with him and as I always do when Im stumbling around le souk, I expressed my overwhelming gratitude for everything Marcus and Sam has done for our brands. Check out their new Brazilian Steakhouse across the street, Carnivale. Anything Marcus and Sam touch turns to gold.
Also want to say thanks to our bartender at le souk Ray Rivera, I still want that recipe for your Zygo shots for the site. Well, anyone who knows, a few hours of le souk and there is no next spot. You go home and thank god you left in one piece. Until tonight, where we will be out again making the Zygo rounds and documenting the adventure....thanks everybody.
Harold Joyce
posted by: Harold | Jun 5 2006 | 3 comments.
Thom Yorke, o3world, and my man Jason @ Stanton Social
Thom Yorke new album is the tits
despite the spontaneous terenchel downpour outside that soaked us from head to toe, the listening party was amazing. The Eraser definitely had a Kid A feel to it and definitely worthy of my $19.99. Oh, and I have to say that Adam Farrell from Beggars Banquet is a dude and he put together one of the better listening parties Ive been to. Ya did Thom Yorke right! I kind of forgot my camera for that part of the night, so no pics. I was doing a tasting at Discovery Wines and had to run over to the party with out it. If you want to you can come spank me for it at September Wines tonight, because I'm doing a taasting there from 6-9pm.
We got the O3World cats to come up for the party and I think I got them a little more trashed than they expected. The listening party was only the start of the night. We went and hit a string places afterwards/ Hopefully Gadsby and Keith didnt puke all over our bunker in the LES, when they went back to crash for the night.
All that said, the big thanks for the night really must be said now, Jason over @ Stanton Social is a fucking KING! Zygo found its way onto their bar a few weeks ago. Its a pretty high end restaurant around the block from my pea sized apartment in the Lower East Side. Its pretty different consider our hood. This place is highend food and 12 dollar cocktails, whereas most of the bars we hang in here are $2-3 PBRs & $6 dollar shots of Zygo (which my grubby ass is perfectly content with, I just appreciate the higher end place Zygo is served, for not throwing me out as a vagrant). Well anyway, the first time I hit the joint we went upstairs to the bar and I see the bartender from Suba serving drinks behind the bar, Jason. Hes a total joy and a big reason Zygo and 44 North did so well at Suba. We ask for whatever concoction hed like to make with Zygo and of course it was tremendous. After the next few weeks I start seeing crazy orders coming out of our distributor for Stanton Social. Apparently, Jason has turned the entire staff onto it and now theyre serving it instead of Red Bull. That is pretty badass! His cocktails last night were fucking great, some sort of cucumber infusion with Zygo. Totally unexpected and beautiful.
So once we got kicked out of there we headed over to one of my favorite new bars called Fontanas on Eldridge and Broome. Its a killer Rock joint, great bartenders, an owner named Holly Ferrari (real name), and of course the Zygo goodness. We met Matt, great tender of bar and the guy makes his own bitters. Definitely check it out. They have a ton of live acts playing there throughout the week.
After that we furthered the Rockness and headed over to Fat Baby to see Travis. By this time Gadsby and Keith from O3World (who by the way are the guys who designed this blog and our website) were on their last legs. Was it mean to keep serving them booze, one after another, after another? Well we love them and its not all the time they get out of Philly for these NY escapades. Fat Baby is another one of those places with great music at all times, and amazing bands playing all week. Rob, who owns the place can always been seen either infront standing guard or hes riding around the LES on his bike.
Well after this moment the night it a little fuzzy, and I think we wound up drinking Compass Box Whisky over at Milk and Honey, there was definitely some pizza, me holding up Gadsby, him wanting to wrestle me, and Keith just staring dreamy eyed into the void. I hope they left my keys in the Bunker. Oh, check the website
.its long overdue but I got my man Uriel Copelevs cocktail up. Uriel is the reason Zygo is at all the Sushi Sambas around the country. He made a pretty amazing cocktail that caught on pretty quickly amongst the staff. Thank you so much for everything Uriel!
posted by: Harold | Jun 2 2006 | 4 comments.
Mass Appeal Magazine & Canal Chapter 1134NYC
My thanks go out to Joanne Carolino @ Mass Appeal , as well as long time supporters Serf & Mint.....Last night's event was amazing and after the booze ran out it was nice to see people gripping the last few bottles of Zygo like water in the desert. This was probably Canal Chapter's most impressive group showing to date. Their gallery started off amazing and is just getting better and better with each show. Tons of amazing work from Chris Daze Ellis , Ron English , Cycle, Rammellzee , Won, Ryan Michael Kelly .......It was pretty impressive to see all these artists together and it brought out a lot of cats I haven't seen in a long time. Oh, and if you've ever seen the Grafitti logo of Zygo on the back drop of our home page at FuelChange , well then you already know Serf and Mint. It's their artwork... 1134NYC!!!!!! Oh and Faust it was great to see you and congratulations on Graduating!
After the event we met up with Ron @ Little Giant for some eats. Thank you Julie for accomodating this raw food thing I'm on.....She's the greatest!!! From what they told me, they did a ton of Zygo damage around town at Julep, Stanton Socail, Lea, Keybar, and Park Bar.....not a bad night for the team. Not to mention the mention in the Daily News for 44 North and the Huckleberry Sin by Attila @ Keybar . So another great day for all of us and a hangover to nurse today.
I'll have something new up tomorrow. We're helping out on Thom Yorke's listening party tonight at Midway (formerly Save the Robots and Scenic). "The Eraser" is his solo debut away from Radiohead, so I'm interested to say the least. When I saw Radiohead live on the Bends tour here in NY I had to change my diaper afterwards. Great shit and I can't wait to here it. It's out from the Beggars Banquet Group which has some of the best artists out there....Mark Lanegan, Raconteurs, M.I.A., The Peaches, White Stripes, Cornershop, Mission of Burma, Interpol, Belle and Sebastian, Mogwai, TV on the Radio, Gus Gus, Super Furry Animals....and that's just the tip of their roster. It just goes on and on. Well you'll get the report here tomorrow.
Love and Peace, oh and make sure you break something!!
Minister of Propaganda
posted by: Harold | Jun 1 2006 | 1 comment.