I came across this photo yesterday on the Purple Diary and didn't much consider the caption: "[Graffiti artist] Andre in front of the soon to be reopened Beatrice Inn, New York." Fans of the shuttered speakeasy have been eagerly awaiting a revival since it was first padlocked back in April.

I have always taken Halloween too seriously. For clubs it generally marks the end of a post-summer slow period and the beginning of the holiday season, which is for many joints their first reason to be cheerful since Labor Day. It is a night of insanity and money. It can also be mayhem for security guards who face a myriad of potential nightmares. Brawlers, thieves, dealers, and bad, bad patrons who have been previously banished (86’d) can easily disguise their way back in to a club. Patrons who are normally sane channel dark lords and monsters while carrying scythes or swords -- which after a few witches brews can be quite dangerous. A few years ago, I bought myself a real good Elvis costume and have been wearing it ever since (I mean, only on Halloween of course). I'm the old fat Elvis with a gray Elvis wig, gold rings and chains, sunglasses, fancy Elvis shoes. This year, thank God and a low-rent diet, I'll need a bigger pillow to pull it off. I always walk in the parade, and sometimes I have been known to sing a song. I always talk in “the” voice. I’ve been known to judge a costume contest or two. This year, like all the rest, I will be all dressed up looking for someplace to go. One of the great things about Halloween is that in general people do dress, and it can make a usually awful gathering look swell. My choices for Halloween are:

I woke up, had my cup, and I dragged a comb across my head, and I read the news today (and yesterday) -- oh boy,about a lucky man who made the grade, and though the news was rather sad, well I just had to laugh ... The Jon B-Mike Satsky URL story had heads shaking and tongues wagging as the blogs took pleasure in what appears to be a lowlife clubland grift. Jon B is by all accounts a very successful club operator with a number of properties and a lot more coming in the near future. He is absolutely dedicated to defining himself as an honest, intelligent, and gifted club/restaurant operator. But the blogosphere is buzzing with negative reports of a below-the-belt hit on Iron Mike Satsky. According to the reads, the Greenhouse gang took the provocateurnyc.com domain and had it direct people to the Greenhouse website. Provocateur is the new spot my designer pal Lionel Ohayon is producing for Mike and partner Brian Gefter. Mike and Brian had a winner over at Stereo before it was shuttered. After my successful mediation last week between Chichi212.com queen Brittany Mendenhall and Unik Ernest, who she called the "MC hammer of nightlife." I was feeling very Bill Clintonesque. I called Jon B and said, "You have your new restaurant, Juliet, named after your mom, with top chef Todd English, and it just seems ridiculous to have this petty game play out online." He agreed and told me to come meet him at Juliet.

The Boom Boom Room, the hipster aerie on top of the newish Standard Hotel is the talk of the town as Fashion Week comes to a close. What happens to the space after this week when the Fashion Flock flutter away is subject to much rumor and speculation. The story that I kept hearing was a collaboration between man about town (but currently in Rome) Paul Sevigny and Rose Bar pharaoh Nur Khan. I repeated the rumor in a throw-out-the-line-see-what-fish-I-would-catch gambit in a post a couple days ago. Nur and I finally talked and he told me "Paul and I are flattered, and this is news to us. We've been discussing a project together, yet I'm focused on Rose Bar." Paul, of course, is killing it over at Avenue with his Tuesday night there a smash success. He's even blowing up the Thursday there as well. Yet, the story still makes sense. I absolutely believe Nur, but if not him, who? The question is whether an operator is needed at all, or will a good doorperson, well trained staff, and a beautiful room with views for miles and miles and miles be enough to drive the place and therefore the hotel.

Yesterday I spoke about Tavern on the Green honcho Jenny Oz LeRoy, daughter of restaurateur Warner LeRoy and granddaughter of Hollywood legend Mervyn LeRoy (The Wizard of Oz, Little Caesar). Today, my old friend Cameron Douglas, son of Michael, grandson of Spartacus himself Kirk, gets a word or three. News of Cameron's bust for possession with intent to sell large amounts of methamphetamine unfortunately comes as no surprise to those familiar with the troubled kid. That's part of the problem -- he's always thought of as a kid. It's not easy, I guess, being the son and indeed grandson of such mega-stars. The pressures to succeed, to be a star, must be tremendous, yet it seems a lot easier than growing up in some rat-infested tenement with parents who don't have all that much to teach. Now, Cameron faces man-size problems. These are federal drug charges with severe sentencing guidelines, and the weight involved (over 8 ounces) and the allegations and implications that this quantity is the tip of the iceberg speaks of serious jail time. There are reports of a ginormous trust fund of as much as $80 million, so amazing legal counsel will be secured.

I awoke to the sound of CNN blaring great economic news to my Martinez Brothers-blown ears. Cielo is winding down its summer programming, and as reported earlier will close August 1 until September by court order. The Martinez Brothers are no longer the new kids on the block and seem destined to become legends before they reach 21 years of age. As I write this, the good people over at Pacha are awaiting a decision by Judge Joan Madden regarding the fate of the last mega-house club this town can boast. I have heard unsubstantiated rumors of economic troubles over at M2, and to me, Webster Hell is not a consideration. Home and Guesthouse just shuttered under the weight of enforcement, and the question "who's next?" looms large. Is it a coincidence this latest round of crackdowns by the powers that be is happening just as an economic recovery is waking me and the whole country up?

Sandra Ardito heads sales, marketing and special events for KO Hospitality Management (Cooper Square Hotel, Empire Hotel, Hotel on Rivington, and Chelsea Hotel in Atlantic City). We met the hospitality connoisseur at the Cooper Square Hotel to get the scoop on the Hamptons Memorial Day hotspot, the Reform Club Inn (suites and private cottages in Amagansett), working for Ian Schrager, and why we should stay at Cooper Square (besides the fact that it's the location of the Bjork's afterparty tonight).

Is this the first hotel KO has developed?
No, we did the Empire Hotel on 63rd Street, and we did the Chelsea Hotel in Atlantic City for Paul Sevigny and Matt Abramcyk. For those hotels, I would describe us as the hired guns.

I attended the "Save the Beatrice" party at the brand spanking new Cooper Square Hotel. Paul Sevigny promised a free save the Bea T-shirt if I came. He has not kept his word. However, he does promise to keep his word to the New York City Buildings Department. A hearing today will clarify what the department will require the Beatrice Inn team to do in order to reopen. Paul promises he's "more than willing to fix anything that is required and to address any issues that they have." I asked him if the joint will open soon, and he replied, "Hell yeah."

Usually, when a magazine party's staple open bar runneth dry, it means the party is finis. But last night, at the Good Night Mr. Lewis one year anniversary party held at Greenhouse, we ignored that tradition and celebrated Steve Lewis's memorable year at BlackBook well into the wee hours with our new friends Svedka, Paul Sevigny, Kid Cudi, and LMFAO. See full gallery of photos by Nick McGlynn and Kirill Bichutsky.

What started out as a couple of months' worth of distraction has turned into a more-than-a-year obsession. Although my real anniversary was in February, I’ve been so busy with my own personal economic recovery program -- we don't use the word bailout around here for obvious reasons -- that it just slipped by. Yep, time sure flies by when you’re having fun, and in the end that’s what blogging is all about for me -- most of the time that is. Since Rachelle Hruska over at Guest of a Guest introduced me to this whole new universe what seems like 10 years ago, I’ve picked up a newspaper only a handful of times (yes, to see my name printed in it). There is some irony in the fact that I only started to write my blog because my dear friend Tricia Romano packed it in at the Village Voice and went to the left coast to surf and turf. Now she writes for Blackbook covering the LA beat. There’s just too much yin-yang to that.