Author Brantly Martin, once a wonder boy of New York City nightlife, has returned from exile, purgatory, marriage, overseas, and five or six other speculated places armed with a 200-plus page book that's is the buzz about town. “Which is worse?” a savvy pal asked me, "To be in it or not be in it?” Pillage describes some days and some nights in the life of the model/promoter/owner club set in decidedly non-PG rated terms; there’s more sex and drugs than Woodstock. As I read it, I became increasingly revolted, then jealous, then revolted, then I laughed and was revolted again. It’s a rollercoaster ride through the world of the young, rich, beautiful, and passionately immoral. Brantly seems to have come to terms with his demons. He is actually married to a beautiful Italian woman and lives in Rome. He admits to being the main character of the tome ("Cracula"). He is super hush-hush about the identities of the other characters and wouldn’t give me even one. In this case, the names have been changed to protect the guilty -- but I managed to poke my rather cute nose in some of the right places and came up with a few reveals.

The high and mighty plans of the Opium Group out of Miami to create and sustain a high-end club in the Mezmor Building space are officially dead. Mark Baker has left M2. I won't get into a he-said she-said debate on what happened. Mark told me "that the split was mutually agreed upon and that Joey Morrissey -- a friend for 20 years -- and myself still maintain a great relationship." Mark believes his run at Mansion, now M2, "has been a great success"; through impossible times the club has survived, and most felt that was impossible. But I suspect that surviving, although a noble ambition, is not what they had in mind a little more than a year ago. The big dreams of a circus-like atmosphere where the beautiful people celebrated the sweet sounds of success while popping bottles to the sweet sounds of world-class DJs proved fleeting. Yes, there were many moments where the Euro set had a blast, but downtown didn't understand it and mostly didn't come. The dream of a mixed bag of the best of every class in New York was never achieved.

Joey Morrissey seems firmly in charge of M2 as of this writing. Yesterday’s interview and today’s were done before the media tsunami over the name change; many are saying that Mansion is out of business, and this semantically may be true, but the new M2, under the control of Joey, Artie Arboleda, and nightlife hero Mark Baker goes on. I spoke to Joey Morrissey last night and asked him to clarify some things.

A great debate has been going on in blogdom where, like that Governor in Illinois, my own words are being used against me. That’s fair enough. I wrote a story about a year ago when Mansion first opened saying that Mansion was “capable” of leading us into “a new era” of clubbing. To many, that prediction fell short -- yet, it has not folded as others predicted. The semantics of bankruptcy proceedings aside, the public can still dance and imbibe at the former Crobar/Mezmor/Mansion -- and now, M2 space. Although some Mansion peeps were asked to return from whence they came, Mark Baker and his crew remain, and as long as Mark is there and enthusiastic, there is great hope. There were many reasons why Mansion did not become all things to all people.

Those Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi Terminator flicks are really swell. I personally liked T2, the first sequel, better than the original. So it may be a similar story with Mansion. Word is that Mansion will almost immediately become "M2." Just around a year after its launch, a game of musical chairs has followed a bankruptcy court proceeding last week.

So, I finally met Lydia Hearst -- she was interning at BlackBook on Monday. I’m still on site at Webster Hall finishing it (something that may still take some time); the world is in turmoil when I get a "celebrity intern" messenger with a photog. I texted BlackBook and asked if I had to be nice; no one responded, so I was sort of nice.

Nightlife impresario Dirk Van Stockhom on his new venture at 98 Kenmare Street, being a 13-year-old English playboy, and why Sudan is the new global hotspot.

Where do you go out? I am very much a bar/restaurant guy. I go to Rose Bar ... when I can afford it [laughing]. Milano's on Houston. My favorite place in the whole of New York is the Ear Inn on Spring Street. It is the most classic bar because they don’t give a damn. It is full of regulars and some of the most interesting people. You also do see models and actors, next to regular people. It is no bullshit, great drinks, great food. The owners are two of the nicest people in the world. It is a real community bar. Big supporters of the arts. Don’t tell anyone though, it will spoil it [laughing].

[UPDATE: Frank Own is not amused.]

Paper Magazine’s 4th Annual Nightlife Awards seemed to me to be a must-attend event. Still, it was a cold Sunday night, and Mansion is way over there, and it was hard for me to get going. My "dates" for the evening, my lovely girlfriend Nicole and the beautiful blogger Brittney Mendenhall of Chichi212 opted out, and so I tivo'd Entourage and went alone. Mansion was a madhouse, packed with nominees and their followings. It was a party like 1994. I ran into Guest of a Guest blogger Rachelle Hruskas' special friend, Olympian rower and all around good guy Cameron Winklevoss, as he smuggled a turkey sandwich into the joint. Rachelle’s table was packed with the beautiful Princeton types and fabulous funsters that have adopted my wonderful blogging buddy. Rachelle was all dressed up with a great place to go, as this event had everyone dancing on tables. It was one of those times when the potential of a new nightlife, of a new era in clubbing, seemed possible. I wrote a long time ago how this was possible, even inevitable, and I thought Mansion might be the club to do it. Mansion really hasn’t done that, but it has survived and thrived and is generating tons of loot, which is more than something in this day.

Here's Part 2 of our interview with Matthew Isaacs and Jordan Harris of the Bloc Group. Read Part 1.

Here we have two guys with great educations and skill sets that chose to get into the club biz instead of pursuing traditional careers. They took the route of promoters, honed their skills, made relationships, made contacts and have taken the job to the next level, now working multiple clubs on multiple nights. Matthew Isaacs and Jordan Harris are part of an intelligent subset that doesn’t actually own a club but does own a marketing entity that isn’t limited by ownership. The Bloc Group is built for speed and versatility, and its ability to fill small or large rooms with a specific demographic makes them very valuable to clubs in need. The industry has evolved from a time when an owner and a couple of partners would throw on a DJ, hire hot staff, and open the doors. This partnering with promoters who bring in supermodels and celebrities, but not necessarily the masses, marks a development that will redefine club promotions. Danny A. has brought his bevy of beauties and movie stars to hot clubs for quite some time, but his pairing with savvy producers like Matthew and Jordan gives owners an opportunity to have a defining night delivered to them hook, line, and sinker. The fact that they are able to task multiple venues on a single night was unheard of just a year or two ago.