there's a new holland?

Not much to add from last night. The most entertaining portion of the evening was at Brendan's listening to two dudes at the bar discuss how large their vocabulary is...yes vocabulary. One went on to say, "Her vocabulary by nature is large, and that's what turns me on to her." They then went on to playfully pet and and what sounded/looked like flirting with one another. Our bets are that he really isn't attracted to her. The specials there were $3 MGD and $2.50 High Lifes...we went with Smithwicks. Albeit, we did close out the evening with an Old Style at Dram Shop.  I only hope the new Old Style recipe that is coming out is as good as the new Schlitz.

And for some shameless promotions, look to your right and you can see the map of our google mash-up of all the bars within a mile radius of the 837. Also log on to Facebook and join the EBONY (its our new acronym, Empty Blog of Nothing, Yo!) fan page, link is to the right.

You call me a fool, you say it's a crazy scheme

Our first weeknight excursion of '09, and it included 3 bars we've never been to before.

Brendan's, which refers to itself as the "#1 Red Sox Bar in Chicago" was broadcasting 97.1fm The Drive with poor staticy reception. Beer of the Month? Milller Hi-Life. We didn't order those. Rick will have more to say about the man sitting next to us at the bar. My only quote from him is, "...and of course I only search for the perfectly cromulent word." Emphasis his.

Photos from this evening are very still life.

Down the street to Wilde, which would have to be my favorite bar so far on the year that I had never been to before. Just expecting an overpriced fancy pants bar we're greeted with a list of somewhat local (nearby states) microbrews currently available. Music was good, the people didn't seem too pretentious. Yes, the beers are more expensive here, but they're also BETTER. Tried both "The Poet" (tremendously strong dark chocolate flavor, very rich) and the Breck Brewery Vanilla Porter. The Vanilla Porter has about 3 seconds too much vanilla in it.

Third, and last stop, of the night: Dram Shop. Didn't know this place existed despite running by this intersection just about every time I go for a run. That either says I'm not running enough or this place is a hole in the wall. Probably both. Drinking Old Style (a severe palate shock after switching from the VP), listening to Steely Dan for the second time tonight, deciding I will probably never return to the Dram Shop. If I want a dive bar I'll choose one that doesn't have plywood on the walls and what seemed like a heater that wasn't working. They've got a name for the winners in the world, and they don't hang out here.