Ahh, Thank Goodness for Guinness

And the Kensington Circus Pub pours it well.

The place makes me feel like my "Norm." My "Norm" of course is that feeling in a place where they treat ya like Norm from "Cheers" and they start building your beer before you can even grab a stool.

Or in my case two beers.

The Guinness is so good here that the first one goes down so fast I can't wait long for the next. Luckily, Graham and James are well aware of this and we get on swimmingly.

Thank goodness for Guinness. And the pub. We should all have one down the road.

Cheers.

Pacific Dining Car 24/7/365

Every time I'm in LA (which is far too often for my tastes - I just can't get my head around it) I must make a stop at the bar of the Pacific Dining Car in downtown Hell-A. It does not matter what time of day, what day of the week, what day of the year. Its there. Its open. Its pouring. And it serving a kick ass steak.

For a really detailed history Click Here.
Luis the barkeep knows me by now and, after exchanging pleasantries, he braces for my inevitable question, "Is 'The Dog' here?"

James "The Dog" Ellroy, a super-slick, sickly, sultry, seller of salacious stories and screenplays with a horrific, harried, harassed, heavy-handed, hellish history is one of my favorite authors. And while he no longer imbibes, and when he is Hell-A from KC, he does like to sit at the Car with his crew (usually retired cops) and chat crime over chops. Knowing this, I always pack one of his novels in the hopes I will catch him to beg for an autograph, buy him a club soda and say thanks for the work.

The man is a genius of brutality, angst, anger and redemption. His work speaks for itself, often in their titles like "Blood on the Moon" or "Suicide Hill" and his inner demons egg him on.

The brutal murder of his mother at age 9/10 and a gift of a crime novel including the story of the unsolved "Black Dahlia" grisly murder from his father hacked his path to hackdom. Check him out.

And if you see him at the Car, regardless of day, date or time, tell him I said, "Hey, thanks and cheers, Dog."

Cheers.

Pour Me Another

As classic a movie scene as has ever been captured on celluloid.

Sometimes the answer is at the bottom to which some effort must be made. Encouragement and teamwork are always welcome but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

You know, to make it right. At least at the time.

I was lucky enough to get near the bottom at a few places this past Friday. Spun around the City and returned to the East Bay to wrap it up at the Hotsy Totsy. The place was hoppin', full of dogs (I mean actual canines) and Jess and Jaques where pouring their hearts out. Thanks for doin' the work, guys.

A number of issues where solved, others raised and confirmation made that yes, indeed, we should have another.

Back to that pic of Mr. Rick (Bogie) don't think that that is his first bottle...

Cheers.

I Don't Need These?

I can bar blog with photos from my iPhone?

At any bar? Oh shit...

Cheers.

Drinking Problem?

Click to enlarge:

How Are We Alive (Us Born 1930-1979)

Blatantly stolen from the web and thanks to my sister for the pain of age reminders...

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat. (Sean's addition: And passing a beer thru the back window to the driver was a very special treat).

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY?

Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that...

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. And a good couple of drunks... (Again, my addition).

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

Cheers.

Sean's Bar Vs Sean's Bar

Google "Sean's Bar" and you will see a few returns. My "Bar" actually appears 3rd on the list - cheers!

If you are lucky you will also find links to Sean's Bar, the oldest pb in Ireland.

I have not been there yet, but a shout out across the pond returned this:

"There has been a pub awaiting weary travellers at the crossing of the river Shannon for over a thousand years.

But Sean’s Bar in Athlone isn’t just the oldest pub in Ireland. According to the lads at the Guinness Book of World Records, it’s the oldest pub in Europe. Excavations beneath the current pub have revealed wattle and daub walls, bits of crockery (mugs and the like) and self-minted coins the bar would use for trade with clients dating back to 900 A.D. Most of the artifacts are on display in the National Museum of Ireland, but a section of the walls is on display in the pub inside a glass case. Research is ongoing for the title of oldest pub in the world. So far, nothing older has been found.

There really is something magical about Sean’s."

Aye. Could not have said it better me-self.

Cheers.

Oakland Police Department

Thoughts and prayers to the Fallen, Family, Friends, and Fellow Officers.

Deep cheers.

Blue Moon Wii Wee!

I've seen bar restrooms that made me want to hold it till I got to the parking lot.

I've seen small dogs sleeping on the necks of drunks sleeping on the tops of bars.

I've seen Raider fans fight each other over our theme song "The Autumn Wind."

I've seen a gun fall out of an ankle holster onto a dance floor.

I've seen large grown men cry over Patsy Cline on a jukebox.

I've seen WWII veterans forget how to walk.

I've seen things I can't repeat.

I've seen things I can't remember.

Now I have seen it all.

The Blue Moon Saloon has a Wii.

Cheers.

St. Patrick's Make Up

This is really an apology. I mean I did not post on St Patty's! WTF?!?

It was not from any lack of desire - believe me. But this year did not quite pan (or pour) out as I had planned. Not that it was bad, mind you. I had me a time. Hit a couple of bars, Brennan's included. Had a couple of pints with a couple of punters and shot or 12 of Jameson's.

And of course some great corned beef and cabbage with family, friends, and neighbors as best as one can on a school night.

However, it was not the "Irish Car-bomb" madness I had anticipated. Oh well, perhaps I'm just getting old. Or the old is getting me.

I do consider me-self lucky that the economy did force one shift in my direction. I had originally expected to be producing the company's managers meeting in Hell-A for the second St Pats in a row. Yeah verily, that was postponed and disaster was averted.

And it also reminds of times when me St Pats has been less than a wee bit o' fun such as the year I found me-self in San Antonio, TX trying to find a decent pint of Guinness. Which I did. Eventually.

Suffice to say its all good and I owe the great Saint one. Or 12.

And I plan to make it up before next year.

Hell, I might start today.

Amen and,

Cheers.

Cheers.