June 11, 2004 -
As I'm eating breakfast, i'm told Ian called twice already while I was still in the sack. I call him up wondering what could possibly be pressing at such an early hour. As soon as I got Ian on line, he narrates his (mis)adventure from last night. He got mugged in a dark alley near where we were preparing for the show.
From the way he sounded on the phone, he was clearly distraught. He briskly described his ordeal:
After he left the art center after our setup and SATI rehearsal, ian decided to take a short walk with Niño, a friend of his who happened to be his neighbor. Walking by a dimly lit and lonely alley, he decides to stop to take a leak when suddenly from out of the shadows, 3 guys with clearly unfriendly intentions approach them. Niño sensing danger, is able to run away but Ian is caught with his pants down. It would have been a totally hilarious picture except now, two of the guys pull out guns and threaten the now shaken Ian, (not from the pee) and demand his wallet.
Ian manages to say he doesn't have money so they ask for his cellphone, backpack (containing our digital camera and tape recorder), and later, his shoes. Can you believe it - they ask for his sneakers!
Anyway, to cut the story short, Ian survives without any bullet holes (thank God) and manages to report to the nearest police precinct to get help. The police immediately accompany them to the scene and the vicinity to check if the punks we're dumb enough to still be around. Unfortunately, they stayed out of sight.
So the night ends (its around 2am already by this time) with the crime in the blotter and Ian headed for home in his socks.
Still June 11, 2004 -
Later that day on the second night of the 3-night Idiot Board series, as expected, Ian's story was the hot topic. Not surprisingly, many found it funny....don't get me wrong, we all love Ian, but you gotta admit, imagining him being robbed of his sneakers was amusing at least and hilarious to some. Everybody felt sorry for Ian but, his story's good for "pulutan" (side dish for drinking sessions) for the next couple of days at least.
Oh yeah, by the way, the first night of the idiot board gig was a success. We all had a blastin' good time.
