Hill Rat: drinking

Showing posts with label drinking. Show all posts

Showing posts with label drinking. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

H St. Country Club - Quick First Look

Despite my lack of posting over the last couple of months, somehow I was graced with an invite to tonight's preview of the H St. Country Club. I guess it makes sense because I do talk about eating a lot, but it caught me off guard. I try not to take myself, or this occasionally asinine blog, too seriously; so the idea that I might be credentialed to something as a media member is kind of flattering.

Anyway, I bounced down to the Country Club about 8pm to soak up my share of the free food and drink being provided. When I walked in I was given a press packet filled with boilerplate about the Country Club and its chefs, owners, and management and a drink ticket. Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

My first drink was an excellent frozen guava margarita that was suggested to me by Joe the bartender. I can just imagine the brain freeze I'll get this Summer when I suck one of those down after walking the half a dozen sweaty blocks between my crib and the Country Club. Then with drink in hand, I took a stroll around the place.

I had been to the Phish Tea Cafe, the restaurant that previously inhabited 1335 H St. NE, and they had only used a fraction of the space and not nearly as well. Big Joe knows what he's doing, is well capitalized, and it shows in the final product he's put together here. The H St. Country Club (HSCC) has a unique concept that has been executed very, very well.

I'll spare you a lot of blather about sumptuous wood tones and all the decorative flourishes that you'll see throughout the bar. The mini golf course upstairs is what much of the buzz about HSCC has centered on and it lives up to the hype. Even with the shitty camera in my iPhone, I managed to get a couple of half-decent pix of the mini golf course.

I know a lot of foodies are hyped up for Ann Cashion's new joint, but it looked like they were only serving selections from the bar menu tonight. Everything I tasted was good, but there's only so much you can do to nachos and quesadillas to dress them up. I missed out on the empenadas (which looked great) but consoled myself with the hot lima bean dip which is much, much better than it sounds.

The only disappointment of the night was my second drink, the Hot Tamale; a Ketel One Martini with jalapeno stuffed olives. The olives were a little mushy and not nearly salty enough and the jalapenos should have been hotter and lacked the vinegary tang that I was looking for.

Friday, May 08, 2009

jimmy valentine's lonely hearts club

These folks like to keep a low profile; so the less said, the better. -HR

Thursday, March 05, 2009

jimmy valentine's lonely hearts club - Weekend of March 6-8

this friday, 3/6, Sinister Intelligence Agency sorts through their tastemaker's grab bag ranging from indie to industrial, AND AND AND they're bringing Digit216 down from NYC to blast out a gravity-bending d&b set, word is your face might melt

this saturray, 3/7, doors open at 9 for the THE BOOSHIE BALL (flier below). we're white-knuckled in anticipation for what purports to be quite the sensory overload as local designer Ginger Bray shows off her latest line in fabulous women's fashion while DJ's Sammy K & Hanik, Ray Casil, John Michael, & Dan Soda throw down slamming house and techno (some of you may (or may not!) remember john & dan's block-shaking 6 hour set at our last Johnson & Johnson party (the monday before inauguration)). we've been told to expect champagne & models, professional video stimulus, a raffle for one of Ginger's custom designs... apparently all we're missing is scooby & the mystery machine, though perhaps mr. guiness will make one of his pet-me-i'm-needy appearances. great dance music guaranteed, this will definitely be a blast

and of course every sunday y'all can battle D Thrett on the old skool nintendo (she got a refurbished one w/ the original controls), 2 player games like Mario Bros., Dick Tracy, Milon's Secret Castle, Hudsons Adventure Island, Friday the 13th... it's, like... culture

you been warned

jvlhc krewe

(Click for full-sized image)

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Spiritual Renewal, Pt. 2

I meant to write this post on Monday, but I got laid the fuck out with the flu for a couple of days. [update] I've now been trying to finish this post for a week.

I left off talking about my slow slide into emotional oblivion regarding my father's death. I don't know that I've hit rock bottom with this thing yet, I'd like to think that I have, but it seems kind of unlikely based on what others have told me about dealing with the death of a parent.

I had been feeling shitty (not physically, emotionally) all last week, but the lone bright spot was that Ta-Nehisi Coates had a book signing coming up in College Park that I planned to attend. If you haven't read his book "The Beautiful Struggle" run, don't walk, to your nearest book store and pick up a copy. Just like I try not to be too hard on stupid motherfuckers, I also try not to sweat dudes too much that I think are cool, smart, tough, or whatever. I mean, no one wants to be a dick rider, right?

But rules are made to be broken, so here goes the one time you will catch me on someone's tip like this. I won't go so far as to say this is the best book that I've ever read or that it's my favorite book of all time; I'll need to read and re-read the book several more times before I'll be comfortable making that pronouncement, but this book did speak to me in a way that no other book I have ever read has.

In the same way that "Catcher in the Rye" has been a cultural touchstone for generations or "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" is practically required reading for teenagers, "The Beautiful Struggle" deserves a place in the pantheon of great American coming of age stories. "The Beautiful Struggle" is an instant classic, written in a unique style that seamlessly melds literature and hip-hop into a brilliant narrative about fathers, sons, and the journey from boy to man.

Needless to say, I was very excited to meet Ta-Nehisi at his book signing. When I arrived I saw Ta-Nehisi browsing through the store so I approached him and introduced myself. I shared all of the thoughts above with him and he seemed to be truly humbled and grateful that his book evoked such a strong reaction from me. As cool as it was to meet Ta-Nehisi, it was a total mind blower to meet his father, Mr. Paul Coates, who was there that evening. Even though I had only read the book a few months before I had forgotten how funny it was and it took on a whole new life when I heard its author reading it in his own voice.

BigDaddyRat was a man who loved to read and he shared that love with me, it was one of the many, many gifts he gave me over the course of our time together. In some ways, I guess my upbringing led me to (incorrectly) believe that I was the only young Black man out there that was into Sci-Fi, that liked to read, and saw no disconnect with those things and being Black. So in that context it was reassuring and comforting to be at that book signing, to know that "The Beautiful Struggle" spoke to others in the same that it spoke to me.

Being at Vertigo with some other Black men of letters was exactly what I needed that evening. It gave me a sense of spiritual renewal to feel, to know, that no matter how isolated I may feel or be at a given moment, that I'm a link in a chain.

I had a rough couple of weeks, but for the time being I'm on the upswing.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Spiritual Renewal, Pt. 1

Since the Super Bowl, I've been drying out a bit; partly in sympathy with my pregnant wife and partly 'cause I had really been getting after it for the last couple of months. Like DC, Fargo is a hard drinking city. Out there it's rare to go to someone's home and not be offered a beer at pretty much any time of the day or night, I was very much at home out there. The drinking culture of Fargo combined with an intense desire to avoid my feelings about BigDaddyRat's death led me to "self medicate" as they say. It's not like I was walking around hammered all the time, but rare was the day when I didn't have a drink or five.

I knew that the full force of my Father's death wouldn't really hit me until we got back to DC. Even though I'm mostly convinced it was to my benefit, I'm still debating whether or not it's a good or bad thing that I was in Fargo when Dad died. Fargo was my own personal la-la land, a working vacation where I didn't have to deal with real life and could largely avoid my family and situations that would make me think of my Dad.

As I finished squeezing whatever residual buzz was still in my liver over the last couple of weeks I started feeling worse and worse. I haven't been getting shit done at work, I haven't been taking care of other shit I need to get done, and I've generally been kind of zoned out and quiet. I manage to muster up some chit-chat with other parents when I'm out at the park with BabyRat, but whenever I'm not directly engaged with someone I easily get lost in my own thoughts.

I've buried four grandparents and a few other relatives and family friends that I was varying degrees of close with, so I thought that I knew how to handle death pretty well. Even so, I found myself unprepared for the emotional weight of the sudden (and very unexpected) death of my Father. Thankfully the last time we saw each other we had shared a couple of laughs and told each other "I love you", but we still had some serious unfinished business between us that will now never be resolved.

Ever the generous spirit, Dad had started us down the road towards setting things straight with an off-hand remark not too long before we left for Fargo. I had meant to go have lunch with him before we left town, but when we kept having schedule conflicts I didn't make it a priority. I just assumed that we had all the time we needed to finally put all our bullshit to bed. So if anyone reading this has something they need to get right with their parents or anyone else in their life, I'm begging you DO IT NOW!!! Do not wait, do not assume that you will have an opportunity to get to it later because that may not be the case.

So the point of me telling you all of this, was that I've been feeling down the last couple of weeks. Not some melodramatic, "My father died and I'm gonna spend the rest of my life regretting XYZ," nonsense; but more like I'm just really bummed the fuck out that he's gone. I won't ever get to whip his monkey ass out on the golf course again, he won't get to meet my second kid, and we'll never get to work together again and get it right this time. I don't have regrets, but I'm wistful about the future that we had been envisioning for ourselves that's never going to come now.

This post was about the trip down, next post will be about heading back up again.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Freestyle About Gambling in Fargo

Here it is, a freestyle blog post. I've got no agenda, nothing in particular to write about in mind, and self-imposed 500 word space to fill so I'm letting it fly and seeing if I can bang this out in one sitting.

Did y'all know there is mad gambling out here in the Fargo-Moorhead area? Aside from the usual lotto nonsense, in Minnesota and North Dakota they sell these things call "pull tabs" in many of the bars. Not being much of gambler myself, I find these pull tab things to be unspeakably dopey and total waste of gambling dollars. Seriously, WTF? Just sit there and rip these things open and hope you win a prize? At least with a slot machine you can choose when the reels stop or pull the lever or have some kind of "control" over the game.

In North Dakota, under the guise of charitable gaming, you will also find blackjack tables in bars. I'm talking a real live table with chips, the eye in the sky, and the whole deal. It's kind of phat. The first time I saw a blackjack table in a bar the only thing I could think of was what kind of outrageous scams would be going down if they had that shit in New Jersey.

As a general rule I have pretty atrocious gambling luck, anytime I've walked out of a casino a winner I usually gave the money back in the next few days and then some. Back in the day I used to do a bit of sports gambling, but after a fine run during basketball season I managed to give back a season's worth of winnings in less than three weeks of betting on baseball. So as much as I like to gamble, I had to realize pretty much suck at it and allow it to remain one of the few vices I don't indulge in with any regularity. Aside from the occasional parlay card, and I do mean occasional I don't think I've played one in at least two years, I don't really gamble. Which is what makes it so weird that while I was out chilling and watching the game last night and spotted a blackjack table at Dempsey's I decided to try my luck.

I have more than a few friends who are pretty hardcore gamblers and one of the few tips I've gleaned from them over the years is that if you're going to play blackjack you have to vary your bets if you want to win money. With that in mind I got $40 worth of chips, a bottle of PBR, and went to work at this blackjack table.

When you learn how to gamble in the casinos in Atlantic City, there are certain rules that you follow 'cause you don't want some jamoke following you out to your car because you pulled the dealers bust card. Those rules are not followed in Fargo. The first time I was ever in a casino I got cussed the fuck out by a table full of people for taking a hit when the dealer had a six showing. The two dudes sitting at the table with me however, were splitting hands and doubling down against 5s & 6s like there was no tomorrow.

I ended up having a pretty decent night on the table. After buying a beer and making numerous tip bets on behalf of both dealers I managed to leave the bar with $20 more dollars than I came in with, you have to love that shit.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

From the Mouth of Mark Thorp

mornin'

this friday, 8/1 , DJ L S. y'all know ellis. post-punk like nirvana, pop like madonna, old skool, new skewl... all takin the shortbus...
this saturray, 8/2, Re:sonance (dj's mike darpino & chris diamond). placebo, clutch, underworld, ladytron, damned... definitely rides the shortbus... here's their last setlist http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=165842744&blogID=415104203

next friday, 8/8, DJ Mob Beat. gorillaz, james brown, pixies, tribe, prince... meanderin' all over the map (yes via shortbus)...
next saturray, 8/9, Big Nick. hip hop w/ old funk & soul deep from the vaults... & this here's the master of the shortbus so come get you kiddies learned...

thanks so much for all the offers to speak to ABRA on our behalferage. turns out the investigator isn't interviewing anyone from our team 'cause there's no case against us. the hearing's september 3rd, should be good sport if anyone wants to come cheer. we gotta cheer that goes like "ya ya tequila! ya ya tequila! i amn't drunk! still jes' drinkin'!", which is a real good cheer 'cept some of the other kids don't get it. as diamond dave ravikoff would say, them other kids is "clownshoes".

shortbus does wheelies

troy&dawn&mark

Thursday, May 15, 2008

R & R Hotel

Show was supposed to start @ 8:30, so Dr Mayhem and I rushed out of the house (after downing a glass of absinthe) so we wouldn't be too late. Got here and everything is running late; I'm more surprised than annoyed because the last half dozen or so shows(@ RnR and other venues) that I've been to have gone off on time.

Stinking Lizaveta

A Day Without a Murder, Zeitgeist the Movie, Truth Movement, Vicious Circle, (missed one), and LBJ.

They didn't start calling out the songs until a few songs in, I would love to know what the song was right before 'Murder'; please leave a message.

Also, shocked and grossed to pay $9.50 for a PBR and a shot Jim Beam; that shit is $3 @ Bob & Barbara's.

Torche

Someone has jokes because Dokken was being played between bands.

Torche was louder than the Big Bang. I think they started with 'Little Champion', that was all I could make out. Seriously, their shit was turned up to 11; I'm sitting here with my ears ringing an hour and change after their set ended.

The Sword

By the time they took the stage I was pretty tired, we stayed for what I'm guessing was about half their set. They were a'ight, but nothing too special IMHO.

Friday, May 09, 2008

Jimmy Valentine's Lonely Hearts Club

From: Mark

April showers, May deluges...

tonight, 5/9, Big Nick slammanzee deckenzen
tomorrow night, 5/10, professional pharmacist & life advisor Dr. Seth Boyar rokkenzee hausenzen

next friday, 5/16, US Royalty spinningzee trakkenzen
next saturday, 5/17, DJ Mellie Mel & DJ Dribble makenzee messenzen (w/ possible appearance by DJ Blanco)

* tomorrow afternoon our very dear friends Alanna Foster and Dean Dessouky will be married, much love to you both!

and you are reminded that sunday, 5/25, is our one-year anniversary debaucher w/ Live and Die Wrecked, meltdown guaranteed so grab a helmet kiddies...

....you got to pay to ride

troy&dawn&mark

ps. recent quotes:
"i'm not a mathemagician" - pbr tom
"can you pump my chair"? - layla
"a ram is my totem" - anon (possibly melina)
"IT'S THE SAUCE"! - haley

Friday, April 25, 2008

Safe @ Home

Got off the Metro at Eastern Market and stopped at Tunnicliff's for a short one and to see SOS. The place was mobbed with folks that had just left either the Nats or Wiz game. After a quick bourbon (God's gift to you and me), I took one of those wonderful late evening strolls across the Hill and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Life is good.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Live Blog - Metro Complaints

Nats win 10-5 and the Wiz was up by 30 when I left the box.

Are you shitting me? 11 minute wait for the blue line heading towards Maryland and a 19 minute wait for the orange line. Of course blue & orange lines heading to VA are coming every two minutes. I wonder who the target demographic is here?

Live Blog - Grand Slam!!!

Woo-hoo!!!

Game just busted wide open.

Live Blog - Bottom of the 6th

Two men on no outs.

Stupid me, I just went down to the Stars & Stripes club and realized
they had a Ben's stand in there. Oh well I'll know next time.

Live Blog - Waiting for Food

Of course my cheap ass company didn't pop for any food or drink in the box. I wouldn't mind nearly as much except I got another one of those e-mails talking about how well the company did last quarter on the same day that I got a raise that didn't even cover inflation. So now I'm waiting in an enormous line at Ben's and my beer is already gone.

A helpful cashier just directed me to a shorter line, sweet!

Live Blog - Nats game

Metro is running slow tonight, but I'm only taking it to the USDA. Bossman has a parking pass for us, so we're driving to the stadium.

Friday, March 02, 2007

Argonaut Closes Early?

I stopped by the Argonaut at a little before midnight and all outside lights were off. There were a couple of people inside, but the door was locked when I pulled on it and I was waved off by the guy behind the bar.

Anyone know what's up?

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Union Pub

Ya know, the Union Pub used to be a cool place to hang out back in the day when it was still affectionately known as the "Dead Liver Grill". Now it's just a tool box except for Larry the bartender.

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