I am a Woman, and I love Nerd Culture: Zanzabar

Sonofabitch.

Yeah, I know I normally try to steer clear of expletives on this relatively family-friendly blog, but trust me, that's the most mild expletive I can come up with to describe my frustration.

Few things irk me more than when I go to bat for a person, an organization, what-have-you... only to turn around and realize that they've failed in some other, major, egregious way.

In my last blog post, I went to bat for Zanzabar over the idiocy that blew up in response to their (brief) decision to invite only U of L fans to view the game last Saturday. I defended their choice. And I said:

Zanzabar is my favorite place to see live music.  Their food is awesome. Fabulous beer selection. And best of all: TATER TOTS!! I'm totally looking forward to seeing Diego Garcia there again in a couple of weeks (April 14). I am sending the folks at Zbar my very best wishes for a NOT STUPID game day. I really hope that all this shizz is a bunch of online troll bluster. And I hope all this bluster doesn't scare people away from a great venue to watch the game. Godspeed, Zanzabarers!

This evening, the Guy and I were chit-chatting about said flare-up, and he mentioned that one of his female friends was a little bit pleased that Zanzabar was catching some sh*t about something because she was disgusted by their most recent LEO WEEKLY ad.

I had no idea what he was talking about.

But a little noodling on his iPhone produced this image promoting their pinball tournament. (The Guy, who was recently called "the funniest actor in Louisville" said, "But see... you couldn't even play pinball with her straddling the machine like that. She's covering up the bumpers.")

No, I'm not going to import it to the blog. I don't want that crap to grace these pages.

Seriously, Zanzabar? What the holy hell?

I am a woman, and I love nerd culture. And one of the many things I love about Zanzabar is all the nerdy shizz that they engage in. The vintage video games. The pinball tournaments. The spelling bees. The 70's promotional posters for Louisville that grace their walls.

But when they bust out the ugliest, most stereotypical pandering to nerd-dom, they've lost me.

I don't play pinball. But that's not because I am a woman. It's because I was born hand-eye-coordination challenged and that has been complicated by the lingering neuropathy associated with my chemo treatments a few years back. I wish I could play pinball. I wish I could play video games (although, I am secretly glad I can't... I'm just obsessive enough that I could see me getting so sucked in that my "real life" would suffer).

With this ad, Zanzabar is saying "'we assume that most of our players are [heterosexual twenty-something-year-old dudes], so we're not even going to pretend we care about anyone else.' That sucks. That's a problem. And that's what needs to start changing."

The quotes there are because I am quoting a particularly awesome episode of MovieBob's "The Big Picture" vlog called GENDER GAMES. The battle between feminists and nerd culture has been visited and revisted ad infinitum. And maybe I am biased because MovieBob is my cousin, but I think his take on it is particularly brilliant (embedded left).

Zanzabar-ers-- Stop it. Just effing stop it. Gender-ing a game as basic as pinball is lousy and cheap. Why is it that twenty-something-year-old hipsters these days seem to be as misogynistic as my sixty-something-year-old uncles?

St. Charles Exchange New to Downtown

From their website.

Now I love the Back Door with the homey, Cheers-y passion of most Highlanders. But I also love gussying up and heading out for a night of beautiful cocktails at swankier places like Jack Fry's or Proof or Rye.

Bless our boozy city, but we're about to add another drinking hole on the swankier end of the spectrum.

Last week a bartender friend of Roommate's (and mine) said that he had a job interview at a place called the "St. Charles Hotel" downtown. We wanted to be happy for him, but it sounded a little sketchy. I mean, between living downtown for the better part of the year in 08-09 and spending so much time downtown going to the theater and museums and Bats games and Waterfront Park stuff... we were pretty sure we knew every hotel and soon-to-be-hotel in the downtown area. If there was a hotel we hadn't heard of... well, it was probably a little flea-bag-y.

So, as we are wont to do, we hit the Google.

How'd I miss the news about the new St. Charles Exchange restaurant and bar (modeled after an early 1900's hotel restaurant and bar... hence our friend's confusion)?

Here's what the website has to say:

St. Charles Exchange, which is slated to open in late April of 2012, will breathe new life into a formerly 3,800 sq. ft. vacant space in one of the oldest buildings in the West Main Street corridor at 113 S. 7th Street. Louisville natives and entrepreneurs Rob Frey and Amy Hoffmann Frey have partnered with family and close friends from Philadelphia to bring the new restaurant bar concept to downtown Louisville. Leading the Philadelphia-based operating team is Mike Welsh ofThe Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. who has brought in Mitch Prensky of Supper as Executive Chef.

St. Charles Exchange will embrace the history of the building and create a casually elegant environment reminiscence of a 1900’s hotel lobby bar. The menu will feature innovative seasonal variations of food classics from the turn of the century. The beverage program will celebrate American estate grown wines and craft beers and focus on a lengthy cocktail list that showcases the art of a fine mixed drink.

The early 1900's hotel style atmosphere will be coupled with the genuine hospitality that those hotels focused on in the Golden Age of service. Stay tuned and get ready for a dining experience unlike any you’ve had before in Derby city!

Very excited for their opening.  You can also follow them on Twitter @StChrlesXchange. (Note to owners.... I think you need to simplify that Twitter handle if you can. Missing letters and weird capitalization. Maybe @StCharlesLou?)

Happy Friday Randomness!!

If you're like me, this weekend is really only about one thing: THE HUNGER GAMES. Really, I haven't this HARRY POTTER-level excited since the last HP book came out.  Yes, book not movie.  I never got all that psyched for the movies... although I did see a lot of them when they premiered at midnight. Last night, I was a responsible adult-- in bed by midnight, but my students who went to see it have rave reviews.

Here are a few bits of news to take us into the weekend.

• Oh, right... it's not just HUNGER GAMES weekend, there's also a little basketball going on. Congrats to U of L for busting my brackets (I had Izzo's team winning the whole thing) and making it into the Elite 8. Can you tell Roommate is out of town? 
• Speaking of Roommate... Do you read Brandon Klayko's blog, Broken Sidewalk? You should. Goodness. I kind of think he's a little bit of a magic man... how else do you explain how someone has such a great Louisville blog without even LIVING here?? Today's post about facade loans to local businesses reveals an interesting move-- Highlands Tap Room is relocating to 1058 Bardstown Road-- that's right across from Arby's by Grinstead Road. Back when Roommate and I first moved to Louisville, the Taproom was our regular hangout.  But then it got to be a weird scene-- or we finally wised up to the weird scene it had always been. But still, it remains one of my favorite outdoor drinking spots in the city. Such great people-watching from their patio. I sure hope the new location recreates that patio space. (Oh my lordy, I just looked at their website. Do they really have karaoke four night's a week? That makes this move a little less interesting to me. Sorry folks, I am allergic to karaoke.)
• Don't forget... Humana Festival is in full force. There are currently seven plays in rotation.  Check out my reviews of  four of the plays here.  I've seen six of the seven plays, and those remain the four plays not to miss.
• A colleague of mine just bought the Dairy Kastle on Eastern Parkway. Sounds like he and his partner are doing it right.  Check out Michelle's reviews of the veggie chili dog here. 
• Don't forget, THE MOTH is coming around again next week.  Last Tuesday of the month at Headliners at 8pm. This month's show is hosted by the lovely and talented Awesome Louisvillager, Gabe Bullard.  The topic: Resourcefulness

Have a lovely, lovely weekend, folks.  And may the odds ever be in your favor.

(Oh, I know. But I had to.)

Holy Grale Goes All Bell's on November 15

I kind of love it when I look back on an old blog post, and it makes me laugh. That's a great way to start the day. I was looking to see if I'd ever done a really proper post on one of my favorite places-- The Holy Grale-- and it turns out I haven't. But I've mentioned it a few times, including in this post in which I rant about people on Twitter/Facebook complaining that they're "bored."

Anyway, I just love the Grale. It's one of those places that I always know will impress a friend or a date. It is literally the closest bar to Casa Lou. It's cozy and rarely too loud, even on weekends. There are very few things I like about winter (boots, my embroidered brown coat, boots, uh... yeah, that's the list), but one of those things is going to the Grale when it snows. There's something about the candlelight, the brick, the shape of the windows-- the Grale feels vaguely Leaky Cauldron when it's snowing outside.

But I digress. Again. (Maybe this is why I'm never bored: I have seven hundred thoughts in my head at any given moment. Or as Whitman says "I am large, I contain multitudes." I don't really think that I was what he had in mind....)

Back to the point... I'm also a big fan of every beer I've ever had from the Bell's brewery in Michigan. And for one day only, the Grale is going ALL Bells. Here's the information from their press release.

Bell’s Eccentric Cafe comes to Louisville
at Holy Grale (1034 Bardstown Road)

Tuesday, November 15th
starts at 4pm / Choir Loft opens at 6pm 
20+ Bell’s beers on tap!
Special guest from Bell’s Brewery, Veronica Sanders
 

About the event:
Turns out Holy Grale and Bell’s pub in Kalamazoo, Michigan (The EcCentRic CaFe) have something in common, 20 rotating taps! So, for one night and one night only Holy Grale will do its best to transform itself into the Eccentric Cafe by featuring twenty different delicious and exciting beers from Bell’s Brewery on tap and one from the firkin, pouring in signature Bell’s glassware, and hosting a very special guest from the brewery, Veronica Sanders. Join us for an evening of good beer and a celebration of all things eccentric.

Bell's Beers On Tap:

Bell’s Amber
Bell’s Pale
Bell’s Porter
Bell’s Lager of the Lakes
Bell’s Oarsman
Bell’s Best Brown
Bell’s Winter White
Bell’s Christmas
Bell’s Hell Hath No Fury
Bell’s Sparkling Ale
Bell’s Quinannan Falls Special Reserve Lager
Bell’s Hopsoulution
Bell’s Hopslam
Bell’s Third Coast Beer
Bell’s Java Stout
Bell’s Cherry Stout
Bell’s Expedition Stout
Bell’s Double Cream Stout
Bell’s Le Batteur
Bell’s Le Pianiste

* On Cask: Bell’s Two-Hearted

About Bell’s Brewery:
Bell’s Brewery, Inc. began in 1985 with a quest for better beer and a 15 gallon soup kettle. The dedication to brewing flavorful, unfiltered, quality craft beers that started in 1985 is still with them today. The brewery currently makes over 20 beers for distribution as well as many other small batch beers that are served at the Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo. Bell’s ongoing goal is to brew thoughtfully, creatively and artistically – striving to bring an authentic and pleasant experience to all through unique ales and beers. http://www.bellsbeer.com/

For more info please email us at: info@holygralelouisville.com

I'm NOT hoping for snow in November, but if Mother Nature has to do her snowy thing. I hope it's Tuesday!

Rumor Report: Big Blue Country

Because I'm not from here, I've never had a big ol' dog in the UofL/UK sports rivalry race.  I will say that I was a UofL men's basketball and Rick Pitino fan before I even moved here (and was a big Pitino fan until that happened).  And since I moved here, I've become an even bigger fan of the women's basketball team too.

And, I have to admit, I've still not forgiven UK for firing Tubby.  I love Tubby.  Who doesn't love Tubby?

So yes, I root for U of L. But it ain't in my blood.

But I did think that in a city semi-divided that Big Blue Country, the UK-themed sports bar on Baxter, was taking a huge risk by allying itself with a team that many in town see as "the enemy."

And the few times I've been there, it's been packed for the duration of whatever UK game was on television, but then emptied out as soon as the game was over.  It's a nice set-up they have there: big tvs, cheapish beer, decent food.  But I get the sense that they could be doing better.

My minions tell me that Big Blue Country is considering a name-change.  One that will soften their profile as a UK bar and make it more of a general sports bar.  I'm all for it.  We are super-light on sports bars in the Highlands.  It's such a damned shame that when I want to watch sports, I still default to Buffalo Wild Wings.  I don't like to spend my money at chains if I don't have to.

Wishing Big Blue Country luck and hoping the rumors are true.

It's Fun To Answer Questions about Drinking

One of the funniest people on Twitter (whose tweets are locked, sorry y'all) asked if I would mind posting about a survey she's doing for work.  I figure, she's entertained me all these months, I owe her that.  So, go answer some questions about drinking for Miss @lesil.  And maybe if you're super nice, she'll accept you as a Twitter pal.  You'll be glad she did.

Her survey is for a start-up brewery, so let's support our local adult beverage providers, shall we?  Take the survey here.

I'm Just Sayin': Really Esquire?

Really, Esquire Magazine?  The ONLY bar in the entire STATE of Kentucky that deserves mention on your Best Bars list is the Seelbach?  I find that terribly, incredibly, wildly hard to believe.  Jiminy Christmas! Please, dears, send a steel-livered reporter down this-aways, and I will show him or her (although you're Esquire, so it's probably a "him") a few more to add to the list.

Sheesh.

Cider Manhattan at the Theater Marketplace

This is a long-overdue follow-up to my November 9 post about Jeremy Edwards of Theater Square Marketplace on 4th Street and his Cider Manhattan which won the Manhattan Experience Manhattan contest in, um, Manhattan.

Well, you know how Mama loves her Manhattans, so you better bet that Roommate and I popped on by Theater Square Marketplace a few weeks ago to try one on for size. As luck would have it, Jeremy himself was tending bar. Super nice guy and clearly knows his stuff. He also gave us a sneak peek (or taste, really) of his New Year's drink. Something cranberry-ish and vanilla-ish and fizzy and super tasty.

But the real yummo here was the Cider Manhattan, which really did rank up there as perhaps the best Manhattan I've ever had. And let me tell you, I've had a lot of Manhattans. I started drinking Manhattans when I was still flirting with bouncers so they'd let me into the West End even though I was nineteen or so. (The West End being, of course, in Manhattan.)

The best thing about the Cider Manhattan was that it tasted like a Manhattan-- just better. Even though there's a cider reduction in there and even though he flame toasts the cherry to caramelize it and make it taste like cherry pie-- it still tastes like your grandpa's Manhattan. If your grandpa was a fancypants mixologist, like Jeremy. It's rich and thick and super smooth. And while it's pricey, I'd rather pay $12 for one of his drinks than $6 for two run-of-the-mill Manhattans.

I wish the cheese plate had been half as good as the drinks. I do love cheese, and the cheeses served were pretty good, but the servings were pretty small and the meats included were uninspiring considering the fact that there's a gourmet deli on premises.

I'll be back for the Manhattans, though. And I'm looking forward to whatever else Jeremy Edwards comes up with.

Big Monies at the Back Door Costume Contest and more...

Happy Halloween, Louisvillagers!

I always knew that the Back Door has a HUGE Halloween party every year-- I may have even been once or twice-- but I didn't know what the draw was. The draw is this: a $500 prize for best costume! Holy bar tab, Batman! And this year, I have an "in" with one of the celebrity judges. If I had known about the huge prize, I would have gone last year. I was a lock with my "Crazy Bald Britney Spears" costume. This year... not so much.

According to reliable sources, this weekend is the last weekend for both Carly Rae's and the Barret Bar. Sad news.

We're off to Carly Rae's-- for the first time-- in a few hours to hear the always-fantastic Tyrone Cotton play for a little while before we head off to see Chicago at the Kentucky Center.

Remember, Louisvillagers, "When you're good to Mama, Mama's good to you."

Scoot in the News

Barefoot and Progressive drew our attention to a New York Times article about scooter taxis that gave lots of great press to Louisville's own City Scoot. I know I've blogged about City Scoot before, but this article included several fun facts that I wasn't aware of:

• Soon [Mark Roberts, founder of City Scoot] will introduce No Excuse for Drunk Driving, or NEDD, a nonprofit organization intended to take the success of his scooter program national.
• [City Scoot] has delivered more than 50,000 consumers home safely since 2004.
• The service is open seven nights a week, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. The average cost of a ride home is about $20, though City Scoot has teamed up with local establishments, which help defer the cost, and with their help a ride could be as low as $9.
• [City Scoot] works with Brown-Forman, the wine and liquor giant, which gives its 1,000 employees in Louisville free and anonymous access to CityScoot services... The company intends to work with NEDD in some fashion... Brown-Forman just completed a pilot program with Zingo [another scooter program] in Atlanta. (Bravo, Brown-Forman! sez me.)

Just a reminder: City Scoot's number is 502-566-6384. I have it programmed into my cell phone (though I have yet to use the service). You should too.

Desiring a Streetcar

Whenever I tell someone that I am a New Orleans transplant, inevitably that person says something along the lines of: "Wow, that must have been culture shock." And that inevitably leads to me spouting off all of the reasons why Louisville is kind of like New Orleans in a lot of subtle, but important (to me), ways. Great arts scene. Good music. Good food. Very neighborhood oriented. Walkable. Victorian architecture. Blue oasis in a sea of red. Wonderful bars (and late night closing). Not to mention the whole fleur-de-lis thing.

Today Broken Sidewalk features an article about a proposal for a Bardstown Road streetcar from the Douglas Loop to Baxter (and beyond!). And all I can say to that is: YES, PLEASE!

I miss a lot of stuff about New Orleans and on that list of myriad loves is the rattletrap sound of the streetcar clattering down St. Charles. It's a sound that became all the more significant to me (and I daresay all New Orleanians) after Katrina because it was silenced for so many months. I still remember the first day that I heard the streetcar resume its abbreviated route after all of the post-Katrina repairs. I cried. (Of course, EVERYTHING made me cry in the months after Katrina)

Not only does a streetcar make excellent sense for commuters and neighborhood consumers, but the St. Charles streetcar is one of New Orleans's biggest tourist attractions. In Louisville, too many convention-goers don't venture much further than Fourth Street Live, and Lord knows none of us want Mr. and Ms. Convention-Goer to return to their hometowns thinking THAT'S what Louisville has to offer. No more than your average New Orleanian wants tourists to go home thinking the French Quarter IS New Orleans. (Not that you can compare the two: historic national park vs. Cordish chain mall)

A Bardstown streetcar would bring tourists and conventioneers to the "real" Louisville and plunk them right down in the middle of a sea locally-owned businesses. That means dinner money spent at Ramsi's rather than TGIFridays. That means cocktail hour at Avalon and not the Hard Rock. That means a book for the plane ride home bought at Carmichael's and not at Borders.

I'll say it again: yes, please!

Correction: Wet Willy's turned Dublin Cellar now Renbarger's "Southern Belles" Brewhaus

Silly me.

Turns out the newest incarnation of Wet Willy's-- Renbarger's Brewhaus, set to officially open this weekend-- is not (necessarily) a German-themed beer garden as I previously suggested. Metromix reports that that the Brewhaus is actually the baby of Russ Renbarger of "Southern Belles: Louisville" fame.

Russ is the womanizing "bad boy" who, as of last week's episode, finally hooked up with Hadley-- the one woman who might be able to put an end to his hound dog ways. No mention of the couple's current status in the Metromix articles, but it does pitch him as the most popular guy in Louisville based on his astronomical "friend" counts on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

If Real Russ is anything like his SoapNet persona, he's a good fit for the Wet Willy's/Dublin Cellar enterprise which, in every incarnation, has been a bar with a great beer selection and a seriously meat-markety/sleezy vibe.

Do you think Real Russ can class up the joint?

No Maker's Mark at O'Shea's Family of Pubs

Here at Loueyville HQ, we love our bourbon. In fact, when weighing moving to Louisville, we put bourbon in the "pro" column of our pro/con list.

This week Roommate, who is becoming a regular ol' investigative reporter for Loueyville.com (who can forget his crack correspondence with Magnolia Films?), got to the bottom... or well, the middle at least... of a Maker's Mark mystery.

We love our Maker's Mark. And last week we discovered that Flanagan's on Bardstown doesn't carry the bourbon. When we asked the bartender, we got a cryptic reply involving the Maker's Mark bar on Fourth Street Live.

Roommate took matters in his own hands and wrote the Maker's Mark folks: "I discovered something disturbing the other night. Several bars along Bardstown Rd in Louisville, several of my favorite hangouts in my neighborhood, aren't serving Maker's Mark. The bartenders told me it had something to do with the Maker's Mark bar/restaurant on the embarrassing 4th St Live complex. Surely this can't be. And yet, several very busy bars (much busier than Maker's on 4th St) are not serving Maker's Mark at the moment."

While the MM folks did not confirm nor deny the rumor that the O'Shea's/Flanagan's folks refusal to carry the bourbon had anything to do with 4th street, Emily Reid, the Maker's Mark Ambassador Coordinator, did offer this response:

"...Mr. O'Shea won't budge. At this point it's nothing personal, but he made up his mind not to serve Maker's - we extended the olive branch several times but you'll not find Maker's at Flannigan's, O'Shea's, or Brendan's in St Matthews. Good places to find it? Molly Malone's, Gerstle's and just about everywhere else :) FYI - Flannigan's has the best pizza in town. His ban on MM won't make me stop eating (or drinking) there ha ha!"

This doesn't clear up the mystery, exactly-- if you have a further scoop, send it along. But thanks to Roommate for following up on this rumor, and thanks to Ms. Reid for the scoop on Flanagan's pizza-- who knew? Would be nice to marry good bourbon with good pizza someday.

Friday Night Randomness

Thoughts and blather...

• Wow, the whole Pitino extortion story gets all Weekly World News-ish weird. Okay, maybe not THAT weird, but still wicked weird. The allegation is here.

• I have a big ol' Portuguese family, so the odds were pretty good that more than one of us would put our gift for useless but uber-nerdy knowledge to use in a blog. I'm pretty proud of my baby cousin MOVIEBOB, though. He's been nominated for at least one super geeky award. (Although big cousin Lou just surpassed him by two on her Google reader subscriptions-- take that, geekchild!) Check him out. He kind of rocks.
  

• City Block is closing. The only concert I've ever felt compelled to attend there was Hanson. And I didn't. But, come on... "Mmmm Bop" makes you smile, doesn't it? Smile big and perky? I need to go download that right now.
  

• The tix for the Holy Trinity at Slugger Field are a whopping $69.50. If you've been thinking about asking Lou out for a date but have just been too shy or too nervous, now's the time. Yes, I'll go to see Dylan/Willie/Mellencamp with you. And I'll even buy the hot dogs... if you'll just snag us a couple of tickets.
  

• Big Mama Lou is visiting for the weekend, and as I dropped her off at the Residence Inn (where I lived in Ike-delivered exile for nearly six months... it was actually awfully nice to see the place, especially the front desk crew, again) I was happy to see that Market Street from DCE to Baxter was hopping. Big Mama and I will be hitting the Cherokee Triangle Art Fair tomorrow in this absolutely blissed-inducing weather.

Hope the weather induces bliss in you as well this weekend.

Louisville Love from Garden & Gun

Lou has already established that her favorite magazine is the quirky and gorgeous Garden & Gun. This month's edition features lots of love for Derby City including an article called "Time to Go to Louisville" by Pableaux Johnson.

I'm not 100% sure what Johnson's story is-- although I think I did know it at one time but have since forgotten it... damned chemo brain-- but I know he's the food editor of the CJ, and he's a fellow New Orleans exile. NOLA exile = insta-buddy with Mama.

Anyway, the article lists out some of the "bests" of Louisville and, while much of the list is on the tony side for this Loueyvillager, I approve of most of it. Glad to see nods to WhyLouisville, Scout, Toast, and the Makery (all stuff Lou can afford). Still puzzled as to why every "Best Of" list includes dive bars like the Nach Bar and the Mag Bar...

(Johnson sez: "Universally known as the Mag Bar, this neighborhood dive has a street rep as Old Louisville’s wood-paneled punk bar and home of a damned solid Lebowski-esque White Russian (depends on the barkeep). Nice touch: a centerpiece portrait of J. Edgar Hoover with fishnet-clad crossed mannequin legs.")

....and no list ever includes our favorite dive bar (with the best White Russians in town), The Back Door.

Also in this issue, an article about Bourbon Old Fashioneds including a recipe from 610 Magnolia, an Old Louisville restaurant that also made Johnson's list.

Deja Vu Brew?

We've heard this before, gotten our hopes up, and then been disappointed. But the Ville Voice is saying that Slugger Field's Browning's Brewery may re-open under its original owner by Derby weekend.

I've heard umpteen different people share their distress that the Bats' opening day is a little more than a week away, but still Browning's remains shuttered. Everyone has a "brilliant" idea on how to reopen it: Open only on game days and special events; Open on all of the above plus weekend; Stay open later-- Browning's often closed before Bats games were over, weird movie.

Here's hoping Anoosh Shariat gets Browning's back in the game ASAP!

Speaking of restaurants

... any updates on Cafe Mimosa? Do they plan to reopen?

... which rumor has turned out to be true? Is Kaelin's remodeling or is it kaput?

... and RIP Karma Cafe. Me and my hangovers loved your omlettes.

Series of Local Tubes: Beers for All Occasions

New Series: Series of Local Tubes (SOLT) (thank you Ted Stevens for your "Series of Tubes" quote and so much more). Celebrating newer local blogs.

Check out "Beers for All Occasions." It's thorough, it's well-written, and it's by chicks who love beer. I immediately added it to my Google Reader.

Start by reading their review of Derby City Espresso. I couldn't have said it better myself.

They're buying their own domain name, so these links may not work much longer. I will update you as soon as I find out that the deal is done.

Good Riddance 2008: Prime Scene

Not really MY scene, but I thought I'd add it because the venue is so pretty. Prime Lounge on Main St downtown is hosting J-Dub's 7th Annual NYE Party.

It's $30 and that includes a cocktail and a champagne toast.

Here's the flyer: http://www.primeloungeky.com/images/events/nyepartybg.pdf

Downtown Girl

I know it's been a long time. But the good news is that in four days, Lou will have her last chemo and hopefully shortly the worst of the whole "cancer thing," as I like to call it, will be over with. Thanks to all the loyal Loueyville readers (all two or three of them) for the good wishes!

Anyway, around a week after the Hurricane in Kentucky, ye olde insurance companye relocated Roommate and me to one of the better extended stay hotels downtown. On the downside, we've been here around three weeks now and I'm wicked homesick for the Highlands. On the upside, it's given us a chance to explore urban Louisville living.

I have to say, the experience has been mixed at best.

The worst news about urban Louisville living came this weekend when I swung by Browning's Brewery to pick up a growler of Bourbon Barrel Stout and found the place packed to the rafters... with people enjoying their LAST Browning's brew. Unbeknownst to anyone, from best that I can tell, Browning's was closing for good.

This just a week after Roommate and I had discovered the fantastic Happy Hour at Browning's upscale sister restaurant, Park Place. Half price drinks and appitizers made for a fantastic Friday evening. We'd certainly intended to spend more evenings there during our exile from our Humble Highlands Abode. Mama Dearest is headed to the Ville this weekend, and I was looking forward to taking her there and perhaps endulging in a Mama-funded full price tony meal.

The shuttering of these two fine restaurants comes hot on the heels of two more restaurant closures within two blocks: Primo and Market on Market. It certainly doesn't bode well for this neck of the woods-- the Slugger Field 'hood. Now, truly, there's no restaurants of note-- nothing Mama Dearest-friendly at least-- within a short walk of my new temporary home.

The same holds true for bars. Icebreakers-- never exactly a hotspot, except on weekends and not my crowd then, to begin with-- appears to have limited their hours to just weekends. Neither Roommate nor I have gotten thirsty enough to venture into the brightly lit Bank Shot billiards club. There's Connections, a gay club which is very straight friendly as long as you're gay friendly, but it's not the kind of place you'd pop in for a beer.

The best bet for a beer in the immediate neighborhood is the super-homey Derby City Espresso which has a fantastic espresso stout on tap for $4. Matt, the owner, is always good for a nice chat, and so far I've caught every presidential/vp debate on their big screen. The debate crowd is an Obama crowd; although they're a respectful, respectable bunch, I wouldn't venture attending on Wednesday if I were a McCainiac. The only drawback to DCE is its erratic hours, but cut Matt some slack; I don't know that he's ever NOT there.

Speaking of DCE, on Thursday (10/16) starting at 6pm they're hosting a fundraiser for Adam Tatum, the owner of Oak Street Pizza who was shot during a robbery a couple of weeks ago. That's some marvelous local karma.

Otherwise, we've got some slim pickings between the hipper parts of E. Market (home of Toast and Jennica's, et al. More on those later) and 1st Street. The music at Stevie Ray's has never been bad when I've been there, but the drinks are a little on the pricey side, and on most nights there is a cover. Blue Mountain Coffee House is nice, too. Like DCE, it's a great place to get a cup of (somewhat pricey) coffee during the day, but the drinks are also a bit higher than I would like to pay on just your average night of casual drinking.

I'm spoiled rotten. I know. In most cities a $5-$6 beer is not a luxury item.

But there are some absolutely charming parts about downtown life if you're willing to hoof it a bit. We're not talking Manhattan-style, long-distance hoofing. We're just talking a longer walk than this Highlander is used to (it's Fall, for goodness' sake... you can't ask for better hoofing weather). More on those to come.