It’s Thursday night in Manhattan and you are bored with the same ole Thursday night hangout.  You want to do something different something exciting. Well I have the solution for you.  Club Macanudo (“Club Mac”) on Thursday!  Many of you know that not only am I humidor holder, but Club Mac is one of my top 10 Restaurants in New York City.  I could talk about the wonderful service, the great food, the booze, and of course the ability to smoke a cigar and not be harassed, but I am going to save that for a future post.  Today we are going to talk about Thursday’s at Club Mac where there is a little extra treat.  Every Thursday Club Mac hosts “21 For Fun” with celebrity dealer Tony Busse.  I know you are all saying Dennis come on what could be fun about playing black jack with no money at stake.  I get it I wasn’t a believer either at first, but I am now a convert.  I will not make a claim that playing Black Jack at Club Mac is as good as sitting at the Golden Gate in Vegas, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fun.

I have gambled many times for charity or just for fun and I agree it’s boring.  There is no action.  However 21 for Fun is different for three reasons:

1. You are at Club Mac!  You are drinking and smoking your favorite cigar and nobody is complaining.  When was the last time you went into a casino and didn’t get the looks or comments?
2. Since there is only one table and the room is smoky you get the feeling that you are in an old speakeasy which is kind of cool.
3. But the real reason it’s different is Tony, MY DEALER.  From the moment you walk up to the table Tony greets you with a smile.  As a Black Jack Dealer, Tony is fast and accurate.  He gives the players nick names for the players and creates fun bonus rounds.  Tony’s table is the most interactive Black Jack table I have ever been at.  The Reason being Tony.

Still not convinced it’s a lot of fun?  Every Thursday, the player that cashes in the most chips at the end of the night get his/her name entered into a raffle to win a 3 day all inclusive trip to Panama.  A winner is picked every month.  So, if you should be lucky enough you have a 25% or 20% (depends how many Thursday’s) chance to win a free trip, not bad for a no –risk game.

STILL not convinced?  If you don’t know how to play Black Jack, it’s a great place to learn.  If you do know how to play you can do all the stupid things you would never do if you were playing for money.  Go ahead split the 10x, double down on 12 or 8, who cares YOU CAN’T LOSE! I lost a lot at the black jack table in Atlantic City and Las Vegas in 2013, but at Tony’s table I didn’t lose a dime and still had a great time.

Well if you are still not convinced then prove me wrong!  Go to The Club on Thursday and meet Tony. play black jack with him and if you did not enjoy yourself and have fun, then write a comment on the Blog and I will post it.  I will post both good and bad comments.  Because Thursday night at The Club is a GAMBLE YOU CANNOT LOSE!

Thanks Tony you are the Best.   You can reach Tony at www.21forfun.com or at 877-241-3574.

I hope everyone who came to The Art of Livin Launch Party last night a SPIFF had a great time.  I would like to give a special thank you to Danny for hosting and to Jeff Campos of Nat Sherman for bringing the Cigars.

I truly enjoyed another awards show season.  Sundday was no exception, I thought it was a great day.  Let’s hear it for June Squibb 85 years old God Bless her.  What is up with Liza Minnelli & Kim Novak? They should not make  public appearances anymore.   The only thing worse than Liza was the way Kelly and Ross reacted to her when she showed up.  Here are some of my Highlights and Lowlights:

Highlights:

• In Memoriam – it is always my favorite part of the show and Bette Midler was fantastic
• Jim Carrey – was hilarious
• The Diamonds – thought the jewelry was great
• Jared Leto – Acceptance speech, one of the best I ever heard
•  ABC Red Carpet Coverage – Tyson Beckford a male stylist who seems normal.

Lowlights:

• Ellen – while some stuff was funny overall I don’t find her funny and if she wants to dress and be a man so bad she should just become one.
• Pink – Judy Garland is turning over in her grave and I think if Liza was well she would of went up on stage and smacked her
• Kelly & Ross – they are idiots I hate them both
• Angelina Jolie – Can we all just admit she is an ugly She-devil and cast a spell on Brad Pitt because Jenifer Aniston on her worst day looks better than her on her best
• U2 & Bona – Lose the shades you Putz.  Can someone just shoot him please

Best Dressed Females:

1. Kate Hudson – I never expected this to be my number 1, but she looked amazing
2. Jennifer Lawrence – Shocking she was wearing Dior.  She is a star who doesn’t take herself to seriously, did you see the way she laughed when she fell getting out of the limo
3. Charlize Theron – still looks great
4. Jennifer Garner – I love the 20s look
5. Naomi Watts – Another big surprise for me

Best Dressed Men:

1. Kevin Spacey – Love the Blue – Two years ago everyone laughed that I said blue was an awesome tux, now everyone is wearing them
2. Ryan Seacrest –  The guy was put together, but he should have had a black pocket square
3. Leo – He combs his hair and doesn’t wear a skinny tux
4. Bradley Cooper – Nice Tux, but he needs to comb his hair
5. Brad Pitt – He took a shower for the event and put on a nice tux

Okay now for the fun:

Worst Women:

1. Ellen – she dresses like a man
2. Sally Hawkins – WTF she stole the curtains from my house
3. Glen Close – who died
4. Julia Roberts – I think she forgot she is a movie star
5. Margot Robbie – She was so hot at the Golden Globes, the hair makeup and dress just very disappointing

Worst Men:

1. Pharrell Williams – The Guy should have been thrown out.
2. Michael Strahan – Just God Awful
3. Will Smith – IT’S THE OSCARS WEAR A TIE
4. Zac Efron – if his pants were any shorter Pharrell would of worn them
5. Michael B Jordan – The shoes and what was that on your collar

Last week I checked out a new spot for Breakfast in Manhattan.  Davio’s on Lexington between 44th and 45th Streets is serving breakfast.  The menu is tiny but the food is great as is the service.  Just may become my new spot for breakfast in the City.  Good Bye Pershing Square.

This week I was attending the Context Summit in Miami (Congratulations to my Pally Mark for pulling off the near impossible).  At night attendees of the conference would head to South Beach and hit “The Clubs”.  Many of you who know me, know that i am not a “Club” person.  However, I decided I’m in Miami so I might as well go.  Naturally there is a line and a very large man with a clip board deciding who can go in or not.  Since I was part of the conference, I could get in.  I stayed inside for about a half hour.  That is all I could take.  First they served my drink in a plastic cup.  Really,  not sure how much that drink cost, but at the Blue Bar inside the Fontainebleu it costs $17.50 for a Jack Daniels.  The price doesn’t bother me so much but there too I was served in a plastic cup.  I am not poolside serve me my drink in a glass.

The we come to what they call the music.  It was loud and all you could hear was the pounding of the bass.  It all sounded the same to me.  I looked at the DJ and it appeared that he was mixing, but it never seemed to change just the constant pounding of the bass.  Just awful!!!

So I went out side to have a cigar with a Pally and they were pumping the music to the deck outside, but at least if I screamed into my Pally’s ear and he did to me would could talk to each other.  After my cigar,  I had a headache from the loud noise, so I hopped in a cab at went home.

During my cab ride, I couldn’t help to think, what in the world to people like these places.  They are loud, over priced and the MUSIC SUCKS!  Then I thought maybe its just that I am old and that may be true.  I am old, however those places suck.  Yet these Clubs have taken over,  Las Vegas, Miami, and New York have tons of them and people stand hours on line to get in to listen to loud noise and pay $1,000 for a $30 bottle of booze.

I just don’t get it.  Call me old, call me a nerd, but please don’t call me to go to one of these dumps.  Give me some live Jazz, my Jack Daniels in a glass and good conversation with normal people and I am happy.

American Hustle reminded us how awful the clothes were in the seventies.   The leisure suit??  The man (or women) who designed that should be shot.  The seventies weren’t the only period with questionable clothes.  Take the 80’s big hair, big shoulders and parachute pants.  (No I never wore or owned a par).  Then in the 90s we had Grunge (so pathetic I can’t even discuss).   The one thing this styles all have in common is when we look back it what we wore and say WTF were we thinking and laugh at ourselves.

However, when you look at men from the 20s, 30s. 40s, and even into the 50s and the start of the 60s you look back say “wow they had style and class”.  You watch an old movie and you notice three things (1) Everyone is always dressed up, (2) they always have a cigarette in one hand (3) a cocktail in the other hand.

What is the difference the late 60s, 70s, 80s, & 90s people wore trendy clothes, in the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, & early 60s (the 60s changed on 11/22/63) people wore permanent fashion (or “Classic”).  Permanent fashion is timeless where as trendy may last a year or two.

I know I have explained this on my Permanent Fashion page, but I really wanted to talk about the current trend in men’s suits (sorry ladies this “the gentlemen’s guide to the lost art of livin’).

Today I see more and more men wearing Skinny Suits.  For those who don’t know the Skinny Suit is the new trend (well it’s been around for a few years).  They have shorter Jacket than a Classic suit.  A Skinny Suit jacket goes to the bottom of the jacket sleeve maybe an inch longer.  A Classic Suit jacket goes to the bottom of your thumb.  The trousers are tapered and they are what I called in elementary school high waters.  Yes the pant leg come to the top of the shoe no break in the trousers.  The reason for the High Waters is so you can see the funky socks.  Funky colorful socks are also “IN” today, but in reality they look stupid.  All I will say about socks is that the world made fun of Donny Osmond for wear purple socks.

I strongly recommend from staying away from trendy business clothes.  You spend a lot of money on your business wardrobe and while it seems cool to be trendy you will be pissed when the tide turns and you just spend $1,000 on a suit and can no longer wear it.  Stay with permanent fashion and look at pictures of yourself 20 years from now and you can say “Man I had Style back then”