Colonie native Vince M., 21, lives on South Main Avenue in Albany, NY. He transferred to UAlbany to major in biology and minor in economics after poor grades forced him out of Albany College of Pharmacy sophomore year. While at ACP, Vince joined the Kappa Epsilon fraternity, which he remains in today. We met at a mutual friend’s apartment on Quail Street and faced each other on a pair of ratty barstools. Perhaps it was the familiar seating that allowed the funny, easy going frat boy to open up about parties, his night as an air hockey champion, and beer.--Amber D.
Why did you join KE?
Originally, I was going to do a different frat, but then I went to the KE rush dinner and had more fun. I liked the guys better and I knew more people rushing KE. I figured, “If I’m going to rush a frat, I might as well do it with the people I know more.”
I was actually suitemates with the ones doing KE. So that probably helped a little bit in my decision.
You lived in the frat house when you first joined, but moved into another apartment with three fellow members after it was condemned. Are the two living situations very different?
If I lived at the frat house, like every two Fridays or Saturdays we’d have a pretty big party. It’d be a pain to deal with because it’d be dirty all the time. At the apartment, we have the whole place to ourselves. At the frat, we’d all have individual rooms, but anything else would just be open space.
No one would ever bother cleaning because we'd just have another party soon.
Do you have any parties at your apartment now?
We’ve had a couple parties there, but nothing too big. I mean, there’s been decent numbers of people there three or four times. But for the most part we just try to keep it really clean. We don’t have more than ten people in the house at once, usually.
Is that an apartment rule?
It’s not a rule; it’s just that’s usually how it ends up working. There’s four of us, our girlfriends, and then any other random people who come over. Just us and the girlfriends is eight.
So you’re just there for the party.
I’m the entertainment. That’s what I am. I usually just get drunk and run around and make a fool of myself. People laugh at me. That’s my job.
Any specific acts of foolery that stick out in your mind?
Last year we had a Super Bowl party, which ended up being, maybe, thirty people there. Half were in our living room watching the game. I was pretty drunk and decided I didn’t want to watch the game ‘cause I didn’t like the Colts. I don’t even remember who else was playing; it doesn’t matter.
So I’m in the next room, the game room, challenging everyone to play air hockey. I’m just really drunk and win, like, fifteen games in a row. No one knows how I’m doing it. I don’t even know how I’m doing it. I’m just barely standing. People are getting pissed. This one little guy kept trying to beat me, and he couldn’t for like five times in a row. It was hilarious. I’m just sitting there wobbling, can barely stand straight, and drink at least a beer a game.
But I don’t pass out; I just stop really functioning. So that was that night.
So when you’re not dominating little guys at air hockey all night, what do you like to do for fun in Albany?
Hang out with my roommates and friends, which usually just turns into drinking. Our new thing is brewing our own beer. We found this crazy bar that’s got like hundreds of different beers [Mahar’s on Madison Avenue]. We go there quite often and just talk to the bartender, learn what we can, read books. It’s all about beers. It’s pretty fun; so I guess beer’s my hobby.
Have you made a successful batch yet?
We’ve brewed two batches so far. The first one we made came out tasting pretty much like water. We were disappointed. But before we actually tasted it, we started our second batch. We just made it really hoppy and as high percent alcohol as we could that would still taste semi-decent. So our second one, we decided, was decent, pretty good.
Our first one sucked. We haven’t done anything since then because everyone had to leave for winter break.
Do you have a name for your beer?
No. We were trying to figure out a name, but then we were like, “You know, let’s focus on brewing something good first before actually naming it.”
Brewing your own beer takes a lot of time and work. Is it worth it?
I’d say so. We’re slow, I’m sure, compared to what we could be. But, you know, when you’re drinking a beer that you know you made yourself, it’s pretty satisfying.
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