From my last visit to Dublin…window near the Guinness factory.
Essays, Interviews, Observations, Pop Culture, Stories, and other Dodginess
Posts by Liffey
Shameless on Showtime is one of the best things on TV right now. Season 2 kicks off Sunday. This isn’t your Phantom of the Opera’s Emmy Rossum. She doesn’t sing in this show. Not when the opening credits feature her on the toilet. Emmy’s Fiona Gallagher is a the kind of Chicago/Irish gal who isn’t afraid to eat an Al’s Italian Beef in a fancy hotel and say “I think I just came” when it appears on her plate. One of the best songs of 2011 is a gem that is rarely heard in the states (and definitely not in Chicago – ‘xrt you suck – or Northwest Indiana). In fact, you rarely hear this great band at all around here. I’m talking about…
Mickey’s Tavern – corner of Medill and Leavitt, Bucktown UPDATE: The bar’s day’s are numbered. It’s been sold. But as of April ’14 you can still get a beer from the one tap and get sworn at by Tommy the bartender. The following story is based on a chat with a neighbor, who’ll I’ll call Max, who was in the neighborhood long before me and told me a little bit about the dive bar at the end of the block. Max’s first night at Mickey’s was after he signed the lease for his new apartment. To celebrate he stopped in with a friend and met several of the characters he would come to know well, including the bartender on duty that night, Elmer. “Trouble at…
The Dodgy 