The Anti-Tuesday Post
Apathy assuaged, I shall now attempt to cover all the topics I've meant to post about since last Thursday.
Chances of covering all the subjects without forgetting any major point: not good. Chances of covering a fair portion of said topics in any sort of entertaining or enlightening manor: slim to nil.
All in all, odds I can live with.
Anything I had planned to write up for last Thursday, or anytime prior to the actual weekend for that matter, has completely abandoned my conscious in search of more stimulating pastures.I guess I've already failed there. Let's see how we fair with the weekend, shall we?
Friday evening was spent in the pleasurable company of adamcollins and his girlfriend. Normally this wouldn't be of note as we do things all the time. That evening though we decided to leave the safe confines of our bar to explore the uncharted territory of eSkape. All eSkape questions can be directed to last weeks post. My general review would be positive in regards to the bowling, the bar, and amazingly the clientele. Despite the opening weekend teen boom, most of the non-bar (re: people who didn't drive themselves) patrons were closer to the 11-14 age range, or as the American media likes to call, tweeners, with a smattering of teens, 20's, and adults (or "drivers"). My opinions on this main age group is almost the diametric opposite of their insipidly ego-laden superiors, the dreaded teenagers. The younger folk in general have not yet acquired that unjustified air of superiority so rampant among suburban teens. For the tweeners it is all about impersonating the teenager with as much false bravado you can muster. The end result being an hilarious mix of overbaked "drama" and quite literally posing. No kidding, every single stance and posture taken has been calculated to the most minute detail. Throw your hip out (with hand attached, of course), let your jacket hang just off your shoulders, have one foot on end, use free hand to either chew nails or ilustrate your story. With guys it's the old standby, position yourself as close as possible to the nearest girl without looking like your doing exactly what you're doing. It's remarkable how little has changed across generations. If everyone changed into day-glo and sported mall hair, you'd get a scene straight out of Valley Girl, or at the very least Saved By the Bell. These kids have not quite grasped the general teenage bravado of "I don't need this shit" (which we all know equates to "I survive on this shit"). I firmly believe that if you stood far enough back from a sufficient group of "tweener", you could see the insecurity coming off of them like humidity on a desert road. It was quite refreshingly sweet and angst free. More than anything, this age group allows me to feel not only old, but tall.
I guess I should mention the actual facilities. We only perused the bowling alley, the bar and the arcade. The arcade was small enough that it only barely qualifies for the moniker. The bowling was of the "Midnight/Astro-Bowl/Black light" affair. A nice novelty that I'm sure would wear out it's welcome after more than a few games. We only played one game (Norman J: 116, Kari: 96, everyone else so far behind it would border on mockery to reveal their scores publicly), which was sufficient enough for our fix. Surprisingly we were allowed to bring beer to our table at the lanes. Given the average patron age, that was a quite the bonus. The bar/restaurant itself was quite large and the beer priced refreshingly cheap. $7.50 for a pitcher of MIller Lite was exactly what we paid later at the actual bar. All around eSkape was a good experience for all and can only be heightened once we check out the full facilities. Kari and I have decided that we will hold the bachelor/bachelorette party there. Hopefully at the same time as a tweener birthday party or two. ( By some stretch of the imagination, should anyone be in the greater Chicago area the last weekend in September, you're more than welcome to come.)
The rest of our Friday was spent getting entirely too inebriated at Bumpers. adamcollins was extremely generous and picked up the entire tab, including the rounds and food Kari and I had before they joined us.
Much of Saturday day was spent in recuperation. Though I did finally see last week's Buffy. Not the best ever, but I'm very anxious to see how everything will tie up in the end; there seems to be a lot of loose ends flying around there. Love Caleb though.
/digression.
Saturday night we actually ventured into the city *gasp* to visit with some work folks. They wanted to meet at Murphy's Bleachers across from Wrigley Field; they had gone to the game. For those of you who don't know, Murphy's is one of the famous bars with rooftop seating overlooking the baseball field. It is also known for being one of, if not the, main post-game haunt for piss drunk masses of already obnoxious/outright malicious Cubs fans. Basically we're talking the heart of enemy territory for a Stl Cardinals fan and Miller Lite enthusiast. We swallowed our apprehensions and headed out. Well that bar was filled to bursting with exactly the crowd I feared, described above. Luckily we had little trouble finding our friends and most of the more raucous patrons evacuated within an hour or so. Obnoxious advances made towards Kari topped out at 2 (simultaneous, and Kari was oblivious anyway) and overtones of fisticuffs directed at me happened only once. I ignored them. Once the joint quieted down a bit and a few more friends arrived the evening was actually quite enjoyable. $4.50 for a can of Bud Light should really be illegal, otherwise it was decent.
After Murphy's had become passé the collective decision (after your standard debate time among large groups of course i.e. 2+ hours) was to head to the Tequila Roadhouse. The great trek from bar A to bar B resulted in a first ever experience for both Kari and myself - the cab ride. It pretty much lived up to my expectations. Too many people in too small a car with no one knowing the address of the destination. Add liberal amounts of obnoxious loud mouth and enjoy. Possibly my least favorite ride in an automobile ever. At some point we were fortunate enough to find ourselves pushed out the taxi door in the general vicinity of the bar. Tequila Roadhouse thwarted my expectations by actually being quite the fun pseudo-dive bar. Nice bar area in front with tables and seats; a deceptively large dance floor in back. Both sections played agreeable music - top 40 pop in the back (as opposed to techno) and rock spanning the last 40 years in the front. Being ahead of the crowds afforded our group of about 12 a good sized seating area that we guarded with fervor all evening. Many drinks consumed by all (not so much for me as I had to drive home) at a positively thrifty $4 per bottled beer, Miller Lite included.
One of two downsides to the festivities was the inordinate amount of office gossip that floated around. Now I'm far from above enjoyment of the juicy tidbit now and again, but that night one (absent of course) particular woman was focus for quite a bit of malicious sentiments. I am no fan of this woman, nor do I actively dislike her. Her presence means little to me either way and I'm quite sure she feels similarly towards me. For most of the rest though, strong feelings abound. So, as things like this do, many a conversation revolved around her. I will not bore you (further) with the banalities, but Kari and I were left to our own devices not a few times as a result of such uninteresting discussions. That's fine by us anyway. For anyone who cares (and I eye you with great suspicion if you do), most issue was taken with said woman's absence. Actually she was out with non-work friends (for shame) and much of the evening was spent with both parties playing phone tag in an attempt to appear as though they were trying to meet up. Which was of course exactly the opposite goal for everyone involved. I do so miss high school sometimes.
Our other qualm with Friday evening stemmed from yet another round of "Marriage is a Prison" with Kari and I as contestants. If you've never played the game (and I would bet that this is even beyond jiggery_pokery's experience), it revolves around one or more married persons firing doom & gloom predictions at contestants. To win the contestants must successfully repel protestations and retain the desire to wed. The twist resides in brushing off attacks without insinuating that your attacker is in fact just in an unhappy marriage. Genrally speaking this is not the most difficult challenge; usually the game is one-on-one and the instigator just wants to complain about their marriage. On Saturday we were subjected to a new and terrifying incarnation: the unhappy married couple corners the extremely happy engaged couple in tandem. That's right folks, both husband and wife barraged us with "Don't do it. You'll be sorry."-type jibes at the same time. Arm in arm. Apparently the only thing said couple agrees on is that they shouldn't have gotten married and by extension neither should we. Luckily Kari and I are both masters of this competition. Playing only ever results in Us feeling very sorry for Them and being more than a little offended by each subsequent match since the first.
Work and life have prevented me from writing the full post I alluded to yesterday. I hope to have a preview of our upcoming week tomorrow. Also I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes in this post as I don't have enough time for a quality beta.
Chances of covering all the subjects without forgetting any major point: not good. Chances of covering a fair portion of said topics in any sort of entertaining or enlightening manor: slim to nil.
All in all, odds I can live with.
Anything I had planned to write up for last Thursday, or anytime prior to the actual weekend for that matter, has completely abandoned my conscious in search of more stimulating pastures.I guess I've already failed there. Let's see how we fair with the weekend, shall we?
Friday evening was spent in the pleasurable company of adamcollins and his girlfriend. Normally this wouldn't be of note as we do things all the time. That evening though we decided to leave the safe confines of our bar to explore the uncharted territory of eSkape. All eSkape questions can be directed to last weeks post. My general review would be positive in regards to the bowling, the bar, and amazingly the clientele. Despite the opening weekend teen boom, most of the non-bar (re: people who didn't drive themselves) patrons were closer to the 11-14 age range, or as the American media likes to call, tweeners, with a smattering of teens, 20's, and adults (or "drivers"). My opinions on this main age group is almost the diametric opposite of their insipidly ego-laden superiors, the dreaded teenagers. The younger folk in general have not yet acquired that unjustified air of superiority so rampant among suburban teens. For the tweeners it is all about impersonating the teenager with as much false bravado you can muster. The end result being an hilarious mix of overbaked "drama" and quite literally posing. No kidding, every single stance and posture taken has been calculated to the most minute detail. Throw your hip out (with hand attached, of course), let your jacket hang just off your shoulders, have one foot on end, use free hand to either chew nails or ilustrate your story. With guys it's the old standby, position yourself as close as possible to the nearest girl without looking like your doing exactly what you're doing. It's remarkable how little has changed across generations. If everyone changed into day-glo and sported mall hair, you'd get a scene straight out of Valley Girl, or at the very least Saved By the Bell. These kids have not quite grasped the general teenage bravado of "I don't need this shit" (which we all know equates to "I survive on this shit"). I firmly believe that if you stood far enough back from a sufficient group of "tweener", you could see the insecurity coming off of them like humidity on a desert road. It was quite refreshingly sweet and angst free. More than anything, this age group allows me to feel not only old, but tall.
I guess I should mention the actual facilities. We only perused the bowling alley, the bar and the arcade. The arcade was small enough that it only barely qualifies for the moniker. The bowling was of the "Midnight/Astro-Bowl/Black light" affair. A nice novelty that I'm sure would wear out it's welcome after more than a few games. We only played one game (Norman J: 116, Kari: 96, everyone else so far behind it would border on mockery to reveal their scores publicly), which was sufficient enough for our fix. Surprisingly we were allowed to bring beer to our table at the lanes. Given the average patron age, that was a quite the bonus. The bar/restaurant itself was quite large and the beer priced refreshingly cheap. $7.50 for a pitcher of MIller Lite was exactly what we paid later at the actual bar. All around eSkape was a good experience for all and can only be heightened once we check out the full facilities. Kari and I have decided that we will hold the bachelor/bachelorette party there. Hopefully at the same time as a tweener birthday party or two. ( By some stretch of the imagination, should anyone be in the greater Chicago area the last weekend in September, you're more than welcome to come.)
The rest of our Friday was spent getting entirely too inebriated at Bumpers. adamcollins was extremely generous and picked up the entire tab, including the rounds and food Kari and I had before they joined us.
Much of Saturday day was spent in recuperation. Though I did finally see last week's Buffy. Not the best ever, but I'm very anxious to see how everything will tie up in the end; there seems to be a lot of loose ends flying around there. Love Caleb though.
/digression.
Saturday night we actually ventured into the city *gasp* to visit with some work folks. They wanted to meet at Murphy's Bleachers across from Wrigley Field; they had gone to the game. For those of you who don't know, Murphy's is one of the famous bars with rooftop seating overlooking the baseball field. It is also known for being one of, if not the, main post-game haunt for piss drunk masses of already obnoxious/outright malicious Cubs fans. Basically we're talking the heart of enemy territory for a Stl Cardinals fan and Miller Lite enthusiast. We swallowed our apprehensions and headed out. Well that bar was filled to bursting with exactly the crowd I feared, described above. Luckily we had little trouble finding our friends and most of the more raucous patrons evacuated within an hour or so. Obnoxious advances made towards Kari topped out at 2 (simultaneous, and Kari was oblivious anyway) and overtones of fisticuffs directed at me happened only once. I ignored them. Once the joint quieted down a bit and a few more friends arrived the evening was actually quite enjoyable. $4.50 for a can of Bud Light should really be illegal, otherwise it was decent.
After Murphy's had become passé the collective decision (after your standard debate time among large groups of course i.e. 2+ hours) was to head to the Tequila Roadhouse. The great trek from bar A to bar B resulted in a first ever experience for both Kari and myself - the cab ride. It pretty much lived up to my expectations. Too many people in too small a car with no one knowing the address of the destination. Add liberal amounts of obnoxious loud mouth and enjoy. Possibly my least favorite ride in an automobile ever. At some point we were fortunate enough to find ourselves pushed out the taxi door in the general vicinity of the bar. Tequila Roadhouse thwarted my expectations by actually being quite the fun pseudo-dive bar. Nice bar area in front with tables and seats; a deceptively large dance floor in back. Both sections played agreeable music - top 40 pop in the back (as opposed to techno) and rock spanning the last 40 years in the front. Being ahead of the crowds afforded our group of about 12 a good sized seating area that we guarded with fervor all evening. Many drinks consumed by all (not so much for me as I had to drive home) at a positively thrifty $4 per bottled beer, Miller Lite included.
One of two downsides to the festivities was the inordinate amount of office gossip that floated around. Now I'm far from above enjoyment of the juicy tidbit now and again, but that night one (absent of course) particular woman was focus for quite a bit of malicious sentiments. I am no fan of this woman, nor do I actively dislike her. Her presence means little to me either way and I'm quite sure she feels similarly towards me. For most of the rest though, strong feelings abound. So, as things like this do, many a conversation revolved around her. I will not bore you (further) with the banalities, but Kari and I were left to our own devices not a few times as a result of such uninteresting discussions. That's fine by us anyway. For anyone who cares (and I eye you with great suspicion if you do), most issue was taken with said woman's absence. Actually she was out with non-work friends (for shame) and much of the evening was spent with both parties playing phone tag in an attempt to appear as though they were trying to meet up. Which was of course exactly the opposite goal for everyone involved. I do so miss high school sometimes.
Our other qualm with Friday evening stemmed from yet another round of "Marriage is a Prison" with Kari and I as contestants. If you've never played the game (and I would bet that this is even beyond jiggery_pokery's experience), it revolves around one or more married persons firing doom & gloom predictions at contestants. To win the contestants must successfully repel protestations and retain the desire to wed. The twist resides in brushing off attacks without insinuating that your attacker is in fact just in an unhappy marriage. Genrally speaking this is not the most difficult challenge; usually the game is one-on-one and the instigator just wants to complain about their marriage. On Saturday we were subjected to a new and terrifying incarnation: the unhappy married couple corners the extremely happy engaged couple in tandem. That's right folks, both husband and wife barraged us with "Don't do it. You'll be sorry."-type jibes at the same time. Arm in arm. Apparently the only thing said couple agrees on is that they shouldn't have gotten married and by extension neither should we. Luckily Kari and I are both masters of this competition. Playing only ever results in Us feeling very sorry for Them and being more than a little offended by each subsequent match since the first.
Work and life have prevented me from writing the full post I alluded to yesterday. I hope to have a preview of our upcoming week tomorrow. Also I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes in this post as I don't have enough time for a quality beta.