Essays, Interviews, Observations, Pop Culture, Stories, and other Dodginess

Posts from the “random dodgy” Category

Done it in Dublin

Posted on January 10, 2012

A few more random snaps from Dublin…

"Gavin" - Backpacker Pub Crawl

Carlsburg - a short respite from Guinness at Oliver St. John Grogarty's.

The Cliffs - an out of Dublin trip

Ha'Penny Bridge (over the River - yep - Liffey!) in the rain at night

Backpacker Pub Crawl - Gavin, the leader, two gals and some doofs in the back.

A pint of the black stuff at one of my favorites, The Long Stone Pub

The crawl: On a whim I decided to join the Backpacker Pub Crawl. I recommend it over whatever they tell you in the travel brochure. You meet some interesting folks, many who are hostel-dwellers, and it’s a good time at some interesting pubs. You meet at Trinity College and someone like Gavin (I forget his name, but he looks like a Gavin) will lead the way. Good times, good drink.

Ode to a Chicago Dive Bar

Posted on January 3, 2012

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…