SteaKnight: Eighth Night, 2.15.2007

It was bound to happen, but the eighth SteaKnight, while somewhat concatenated compared to other SteaKnights, was marred by more than the ghosts of brevity. First, it turned out that the Knights would be without their beloved founder and leader HEB due to his work schedule. The taint of cancellations also weighed heavily on the evening as the leaderless Knights attempted to resurrect the evening from the brink of disaster.

The evening was scheduled for Tad's Steakhouse, a venue previously considered a possibility but rendered too difficult due to the problems of holiday traffic in the Union Square area. But after the trouble of holiday shoppers subsided the Knights were unleashed on Tad's.

The orders at Tad's were taken cafeteria style much like the beloved Palace Family Steakhouse. As a result, no community bill was necessary.

There were two main topics of conversation which consumed the Knights' attention on this night. The first was that of JLM's potential catch at S------. It appears that JLM was lounging about, as Knights do, with a fellow Knight, MPH, at S----- on a recent evening. While JLM was chatting up the attractive bartender, she invited him to return at some point in the future for a gratis beverage of his choice. At this point, there were a lot of differing opinions as to how to pursue the follow-up. One Knight suggested going into the bar, ordering the free drink, thanking the lovely bartender, and leaving. Many Knights are understandably fans of Neil Strauss's "The Game". Others suggested the Swingers theory, waiting before going back for the complimentary drink. As is often the case, the Knights reached no clear path of resolution but the debate was lively and passionate. We wish JLM the best.

The second hot topic of the evening was cancellations. RMD and ATG had both come up with last minute mea culpas as to why they couldn't attend; RMD had a graduate term paper to finish and ATG had too much to do with his lady coming in town for the weekend. Both were appropriately pilloried through the course of the evening. But the question of how to atone for the slight was hot on the minds of the Knights in attendance. The Knights arrived at the decision that RMD, at the next SteaKnight, should have to read his term paper in its entirety after the food arrived and before he could eat his beloved steak. It was also suggested that ATG should have to bring to the next SteaKnight a 10 minute interval accounting of how his night transpired on the evening of his cancellation. Manual stimulations on the evening in question, while assumed, would be summarily and severely penalized.

Your corespondent has taken it upon himself to apply a bit of a scarlet letter to those who have committed and then canceled their SteaKnight obligation at the last minute. Henceforth, Knights who cancel on the sacred night will be designated with a "FalseKnight" status in their permanent record.

It's a testament to the fact of the brotherhood that a gathering of Knights can be fun regardless of the prevailing circumstances. Kudos to the Knights in attendance who were able to gather under what is unargualbly the best sign yet of any steakhouse attended...Tad's Steakhouse.


STB (seventh Knight)
MPH (seventh Knight)
JB (sixth Knight)
JLM (fifth Knight)
ATM (fourth Knight)