Today was 11/11/11, and in honor of this auspicious day, I’m going to take 11 pictures of the numeral 11 around town and marry it up with videos of the band that go to 11, Spinal Tap. Enjoy!
-------------------------------------- Bonus Photos by Gene Rubbico! Gene and Smoopy from the BBC (Baltimore Bar Crawlers) are in town this weekend and they arrived today. In addition to hitting 467 bars and having 3,569 drinks between the two of them, they also went to the annual Christmas Show at Radio City Music Hall. Here’s some pictures Gene took from the show. Thanks, Gene and I look forward to seeing you and Smoopy tonight!
Tomorrow Gene and Smoopy, two thirds of the BBC (Baltimore Bar Crawlers) are crawling back to town. Last time Gene was here (with the somewhat elusive BBCer, Terry) they went to Walter’s Bar on 8th Street only to discover it was closed. They heard conflicting reports that it was closed for good but they also heard that it was just closed for the ever-popular, “renovations,” and that it would re-open in October. I thought I’d do a little advance work for the BBC and check it out tonight and see if they've pulled a Subway Inn and have reopened in all their glory. I hope so, it's one of the few decent bars in the neighborhood where I work.
Goddamn, it turned cold outside and it's spitting rain, luckily it's only a couple blocks away.
Oh no! This doesn't look good at all. The gates are down and even their sign is gone.
When something dies you head towards the light. And when you get to the light...
You find Billymark's West. Let's go in and have a drink and get in a better mood.
There's a big crowd in here and people are dancing to the jukebox, which is one of the best in town. (See the essay about it below written by co-owner, Billy.)
I manage to wiggle in to the bar and I see a familiar face behind it at the end of the bar...
It's one half of the ownership of the bar, Billy with a bottle of Bud! Great to see him again and one of these days I hope to meet his brother, Mark.
I love all the Beatles photos and memorabilia behind the bar, cool stuff.
A ceiling fan buzzes overhead.
There's darts up front...
And a pool table in the back.
On the way out the door I ran into Sally, who was there with a group of students from the School of Visual Arts and they were having a party in the bar. She loved the Gumby bag and was more than happy to pose with him. I'll continue to check on Walter's Bar and see if it turns into a 7-11 anytime soon. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
The Jukebox Billy has a short essay on their website about the outstanding jukebox at Billymark’s. Check it out, below.
“Bartending for the last seven years, one thing Mark and I hear over and over again from our patrons is that we have the greatest jukebox. I can't take credit for this—I have to pass this one to my brother, The Wiz! After all no one knows music like he does; just try to stump him. Impossible!
Second of all, Mark refuses to get one of those computerized jukeboxes. Why, you ask? Because with those, people don't play the box, they play the album cover. And there is nothing worse then seeing your favorite album and finding out that someone didn’t think your favorite song was worth including. If classic Motown, Punk and Rock and Roll albums aren’t enough, we also make our own cuts— just look for the Peace Love & BillyMarks mixes. We got everything from Costello to The Jam; James Brown to Weezer; Mary J. Blige to the English invasion; even George Jones. It's damn good.You must check it out.”—Billy
(This was originally going to be put up yesterday, but I heard the news of Fedora’s passing and wanted to put up a tribute to her. So here this is, a day later.) It’s Tuesday which means it’s the night to go out in search of a swizzle stick. Although I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be getting one tonight, it’s more of a mission of curiosity and dread.
Last week, Fat Al put up a disturbing post over at The Half Empty Glass, check it out here: Oh, this had better not be true. Fat Al reported that Eater had posted that the legendary Upper East Side dive bar, the Subway Inn had closed. After several frightened comments and yours fooly offering to buy everyone a McRib sandwich, Fat Al’s calmer partner in crime, anonymous271 left this comment: “Chill out. They’ve re-opened. They were simply closed for renovations. Not sure what a renovation in the Subway Inn would look like, applying new duct tape to the booths?”
The word, “Renovations,” kind of sends a chill down my spine. I hope they didn’t fancy it up too much. Let’s go check it out, I'm praying the Marilyn Monroe pictures made the cut.
Well, here we are, the outside looks unchanged. I love the neon here. Let's go inside and check it out.
Well, this is a pleasant surprise, it looks exactly the same, let's get a drink.
And here's Cesar, the same bartender who served me when I came here on the 365 bar crawl. When I walked in he pointed to me and shouted out, "It's the bar guy!" Ha, a true sign of a classic bartender is remembering his customers and Cesar is clearly a master of that. Here he is serving up the double gin and tonic.
There's no swizzle stick, but there is a straw and as Cesar pointed out, it's a bendable straw, so they get points for that. Cesar also told me that they were closed for maintenance issues, not renovations. He said a few leaky pipes had to be fixed. Let's go take a look around this classic joint.
Here's the well stocked supply lit up behind the bar.
Marilyn looks down at the baseball caps, hardhats and various tchotchkes adorning the top of the bar.
I love the greenish, nuclear look the booths have from the bare fluorescent light bulbs hanging to the side of them.
In the Subway Inn, the night once again surrenders to Michelob. Time to party like it's 1986!
Another classic Marilyn picture, beautiful!
The bar is crowded for a Tuesday night.
Drinks lined up at the bar. There's always at least two shot glasses on the bar at the Subway Inn.
And yet another shot of Marilyn...
And a glance out the front window and it's time to leave. Nice to see some things remain the same in New York City. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
Sometimes life throws you a curve ball. I had a totally different post set up for today and was just finishing it up when I checked my email and read this: “I thought I would let you know since you had written when Fedora sold the restaurant. She passed away peacefully last night at the Village Nursing home. She had been failing for the last two months.” Really sad news. Meeting Fedora and hanging out with her at her restaurant was a real highlight of my 365 bar crawl tour. I met a lot of people that year and she was one of the best. A classy lady with great stories of her wonderful restaurant in Greenwich Village. A true New Yorker. When I was leaving she gave me a postcard and told me it was her favorite picture. I keep it in front of my computer and it never fails to bring a smile to my face when I look at it. She was a beautiful woman with a gorgeous smile. R.I.P. Fedora, you were a wonderful person. I’m honored you took the time to hang out with me.
It’s “Sixpack Monday” which means it’s the night of the week where I go out to a certain area in New York, take six photos and then match them up with songs that I think reflect the photograph for whatever reason (click on the caption to see the video and listen to the song). I thought tonight I’d wander around and on Houston Street in the East Village and snap some photos. Lights, camera...subway!
---------------------------------- Vote For Chester Bean! This in from the world’s coolest DJ, Gidget: “Chester Bean is up for the Midwest Boston Terrier Rescue’s yearly calendar. Those who have met our baby doggy know we rescued him from there last year! Please go through and vote for Chester Bean and his friend Maiden. He is number 33: Mr. Bean, black and white! Maiden is number 32. She is such a cutie pie! Me and Chester will owe you a thousand kisses for this!”
Tonight I’m meeting my friend, Paul Scanlon at our usual meeting place, Mumbles, over on Third and 17th St. We’re meeting to celebrate the publication of the book, “Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone.” It’s a collection of Hunter S. Thompson’s essential writing for Rolling Stone magazine. Paul edited the book along with Rolling Stone editor and publisher Jann Wenner. Jann Wenner wrote the Foreword and Paul wrote the Introduction to the book. Let’s get to Mumbles and check it out.
Mumbles isn't far from where I live. We'll just cut through Union Square Park and it's a few blocks away.
Aaaahhhhh!
Oh no! An upside down Cardboard Box Man! And he looks pissed, let's get away from him before he sprouts arms and starts inflicting pain and damage on unsuspecting passerbys.
And here we are, Mumbles, a sanctuary to sooth my jangled nerves.
I think I spy a familiar face at the bar.
It's Paul, clutching a copy of the Hunter book.
Here's bartender Hal who's always quick with a drink.
Beer and loathing at Mumbles bar. The book is a solid collection of Hunter S. Thompson's writing for Rolling Stone. There's also unpublished correspondence from Hunter and Jann Wenner in the book. Check out a preview of it at Amazon, but I suggest you buy a copy from St. Mark's Bookshop.
A longshot of the wooden bar at Mumbles.
I love the Budweiser painting in here.
As the evening wore on, Sarah took over bartending duties from Hal. Sarah's in a band called The Sometime Boys and they play the first Friday of every month at Branded Saloon. I'm going to try to make the first Friday in December and you should too.
Gumby and Hunter. No need to tell Gumby about the bats, the poor fucker will see them soon enough. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
Mumbles 179 Third Ave. (@17th Street) 212-477-6066
Live from New York, it’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night. Starring Odessa with special guest stars, Ray’s Candy Store and St. Marks Bookshop and featuring the Ready for Prime Beef player, Marty Wombacher. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome your host for tonight, Odessa!
Since I had to work all night last night and I didn't get to sleep till around six in the morning, my hours are all wacked out. I didn't wake up till around four in the afternoon, so this is kind of like brunch for me. At least I gain an hour tonight.
And through the miracle of the internet you're spared a twenty minute walk to the East Village. Here we are, Odessa, let's go in and see what's happening.
It's kind of early for this place, it's open 24 hours and a lot of people come here after they've done their time at some of the bars on the block. There's plenty of seats at the counter, so let's go snag one.
And I'm just settling in as Danny cheerfully serves me up a beer. What a way to start the day!
Here's the view from my perch at the counter.
Cookies!
There's a little bar in the back with menus and plants and booze, oh my!
Here's the guy's hard at work in the kitchen area.
Okay, the place setting is all set, all we need now is the cheeseburger.
Ask and ye shall receive. I got the bacon cheeseburger on an English muffin. It looks delicious.
And it certainly is. The cole slaw was really good too.
A wonderful cheeseburger. One of the great things about Odessa is that it's...
Right next door to Ray's Candy Store! I haven't been here since they put up the new sign featuring Ray and Bob that Lindsay and Chico collaborated on. It looks great!
Allie was on duty tonight and told me Ray was sleeping in the back.
I was full from the cheeseburger, but craved something sweet so I got one scoop of chocolate gelato. The perfect last course for this Cheeseburger Saturday Night!
On my way home I wanted to stop in at St. Mark's Book Shop. Jeremiah Moss has declared this as another, "Buy a Book Weekend," and I wanted to do my part and get the new R. Crumb book all at the same time.
St. Mark's recently won a battle to get rent reduction from Cooper Union and hung up this sign of appreciation. Good to see a local business winning for once!
Here's the R. Crumb book I want to get.
Whoa, check this out, a book devoted to those old comic book ads. I have to get this too. Why not, I worked a lot of overtime on Friday, might as well splurge.
Here's Chris behind the counter. He said that the entire store was very appreciative of everyone who's been supporting the store. He especially said they really appreciated what Jeremiah had done to help the battle. And you can do your part to keep this great book store alive and well, by buying a book today. If you don't live in New York, you can buy one online by clicking here: St. Mark's Bookshop.
Cheeseburger Rating Three cheeseburgers, a great burger!
Kate from One More Folded Sunset sent in this escalator awareness video. Watch it, learn it and live it! This should be required viewing before entering Penn Station!
I had to work late last night and only got about five hours of sleep and right now it’s about four in the morning and I just got home. I’m really fried and I’m going to have a couple of beers and then collapse and sleep in today. But I want something here to entertain you after you took the trouble to stop by, so I thought I’d post some videos.
There’s no rhyme or reason for the selections, I’m picking them as I’m drinking, so it’s a mixed bag of whatever. Enjoy!
Okay, I’m on my sixth beer and about ready to collapse, see you tomorrow after dark, there’ll be something a little better, I promise.
Today was 11/11/11, and in honor of this auspicious day, I’m going to take 11 pictures of the numeral 11 around town and marry it up with videos of the band that go to 11, Spinal Tap. Enjoy!
Talk about mud flaps, my baby’s got ‘em.
Gene and Smoopy from the BBC (Baltimore Bar Crawlers) are in town this weekend and they arrived today. In addition to hitting 467 bars and having 3,569 drinks between the two of them, they also went to the annual Christmas Show at Radio City Music Hall. Here’s some pictures Gene took from the show. Thanks, Gene and I look forward to seeing you and Smoopy tonight!
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