"real and thriving and just as tacky as in the movies"

My friend Rob (of Rob and Niki and dog Mazie from the Four Faced Liar fame, among other fames and infamies) has this very compelling blog mostly about his experiences teaching at a public school in the Bronx. His teaching memoirs are fascinating, but there are also some hilarious digressions, like "Come, We Drink" (June 18th) about going to a Russian mafia joint in Sheepshead Bay, only to find that some of the "tough guys" were more pink than red.