Turtleneck & Chain

Last night we went to a Q&A session with The Lonely Island (moderated by comedian Aziz Ansari) at the SoHo Apple Store. I have sung The Lonely Island's praises before on this blog, when I told you about dancing to "I'm On A Boat" at Ryan and Amanda's wedding, and the epic live performance of "I Just Had Sex" at the Comedy Awards. This weekend their latest hit, "Jack Sparrow" (featuring Michael Bolton), went viral online after airing on SNL. Last night at midnight, The Lonely Island's second album, "Turtleneck and Chain" was released, so they were doing a Q&A session to promote their new album.

First, a tangent: I went into the city a little early last night and spent some time wandering around Washington Square Park (pictured at right) and the Village. I'm usually somewhat intimidated by the Village, because the streets run every which way and are named instead of numbered. What am I supposed to do with that? But it really is charming down there, and I had a wonderful time exploring. I sat in Washington Square Park for a bit, listening to a street performer playing the saxophone and people-watching (I saw a guy with pigeons on his head and shoulders!), checked out a couple of cupcake shops (and bought cupcakes from Sweet Revenge, which were quite tasty), and just enjoyed the atmosphere. I had one of those "is this really my life?" moments - I remember when I first visited NYC in college, and I just became enamored with it and dreamed of living here. Then when I finally got here in 2008, I was so thrilled but so intimidated. I couldn't imagine ever feeling comfortable getting around here, especially by myself. And then last night, there I was, roaming through this incredible place on a gorgeous spring evening, and I was just like, "Wow. I'm really here." I love this city so much and am so lucky to be here.

But enough sappy stuff; now back to comedy. We got to the Apple store an hour early, and the place was already pretty filled up. We found a good spot to stand in the back behind short people, which is a lovely advantage of being fairly tall - even if you're not early enough to be in front, just find some short people to stand behind.

Crowds gathered for The Lonely Island

Hanging out in the Apple Store

After an hour Aziz Ansari and the guys of The Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone) came out and took their seats. Aziz asked them some questions about their new album and their creative process, and the guys talked for a while. They laughed, they joked, all around it was a good time. They followed up their talk with questions from the audience, which included some requests for freestyle (somewhat obliged by Andy) and a super awkward question about the elderly simulating sexual activity in "Boombox", asked by the young kid next to me. Uhhh....? The question itself was okay, but his age (probably between 10 and 13 years old?) made my mind yell, "Too young! Inappropriate!!!" His mom was with him and seemed proud though (she literally gave him a pat on the back), so I guess it's okay. Maybe I'm just an old square. Other than that moment of discomfort, though, the whole thing was fun and quite entertaining.

The Lonely Island and Aziz Ansari sharing a laugh

(L to R: Jorma, Andy, Akiva & Aziz)

Fun times.

Paul Scheer made an appearance

Andy entertaining the masses

If you are a fan of The Lonely Island and wish you could have been at last night's Q&A, have no fear! They recorded the whole thing and it will be available for free in podcast form on iTunes. Search for "Meet the Filmmaker" (under Podcasts-->TV&Film-->iTunes Store) to find it. It's not up at this very moment, but I would expect it should be up later today. (And if they show the kid asking the awkward question, look for us! We're right next to him!)

This is what you want to find on iTunes.

Ahhh, just another fun night out in the city I love with the man I love!

Look at that handsome guy! I'm a lucky lady.