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Pandemic Bar Review - Lounge Ax

Since the pandemic started, one of my law school classmates (Class of 01') has been arranging a bi-weekly zoom chat.  After four or five I started writing weekly reminders in the form of e-mails similar to the ones I would write in school telling my classmates which Chicago bar we were going to that Thursday night.  I'm going to post those e-mails here.

Dear Friends,

Be advised that this bar review message is all about me and my memories.  It’s not necessarily about you.  It’s also not funny, it’s just sentimental.

Our 2L year was the year I got to write these weekly e-mails.  It was also the year I lived with Paul Godinez and Bill Springer on Halsted between Webster and Belden which was conveniently located a short walk from this week’s bar (and next week’s bar).

I spent every Monday night at Lounge Ax with Mike Pardo because that was where Pat McCurdy played until the bar closed in early 2000.  It was pretty dingy and very small but it was an awesome place to see live music.  I still listen to a recording of a Jeff Tweedy show from the bar’s last few nights of existence.

Pat McCurdy plays cheesy Irish bar music but Mike and I loved being there every Monday and we had a rotating group that joined us on a pretty regular basis.  Holly was there a lot and Corinne O’Melia was there at least half the time as well.  Some of my favorite memories were when you guys would show up on my birthday or some other occasion.  It made me feel very special and I’m getting all Fleming-like reminiscing about it.   Those nights were just pure fun and after this melancholy e-mail I wish we could grab some pitchers at Lounge Ax and listen to Pat play some of those silly tunes.  Lounge Ax closed about halfway through school and Pat started playing at Beat Kitchen (which has also hosted the Brand New Shoes) but Beat Kitchen was spacious by comparison and never had the crazy sing-along togetherness that Lounge Ax provided.

If you’re a weak ass liberal wearing a face-mask, you can buy one emblazoned with the title of his most famous song, If you haven’t had enough Pat for one e-mail, here is the greatest Wisconsin themed music video of all time with lots of white people doing the dance.  And if you still haven’t had enough you can listen to random songs from Pat’s insanely large catalog here.

I love you guys.  I promise to write something funnier next week.

Let’s all show up at Lounge Ax by 8PM this Thursday so we can get a table and not have to sit on those gross steps at the back of the room.

See you Thursday,

The Social Committee

P.S.

This was the goodbye message Lounge Ax’s owners Julia and Sue(Jeff Tweedy’s Wife) posted on their website when they closed:

Monday January 17, 2000
We would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone who ever set foot in our beloved little dump on Lincoln Avenue, to all the bands who played our last weeks, everyone who helped us move, and everyone who sent us good thoughts, flowers and wishes. And of course we want to thank our amazing employees, who will always be part of our family. Also, we want to thank the press for their support.
We will continue to look for a new space, and will keep the website updated as best we can. Thanks again.
Love,
Julia and Susan

First Post Since August 2011-Bar Review-Marie's Riptide Lounge

Since the pandemic started, one of my law school classmates (Class of 01') has been arranging a bi-weekly zoom chat.  After four or five I started writing weekly reminders in the form of e-mails similar to the ones I would write in school telling my classmates which Chicago bar we were going to that Thursday night.  I'm going to post those e-mails here.
Dear Friends,

It’s been 21 years since we started law school together.  That’s a long time.  A lot has changed. 99.5% of us married each other and had children.  A few of those children are now in High School.  Some of you have important jobs.  Some of you had important jobs but are now shlubs. Big shout out to Andy was just named the GC for a medical data company that has been described as “The Next Theranos.” 

To reflect upon all the things that have changed since law school, this week’s Bar Review (and future ones) will be held at bars no longer in existence.  This week’s night out is being held, in spirit, at Marie’s Riptide Lounge on Armitage just west of the Dan Ryan Expressway.  They closed in 2013.  They had Old Style, pickled eggs, and a skeet shooting game.  I know we were there on more than one late night but I only remember a night (that wasn't Valentine's Day) when they had Valentine’s Day decorations hanging from the ceiling and Erik and I spent a significant amount of time with the skeet shooting game.  They also had an excellent jukebox (with some Linda Ronstadt…I think).  Marie passed on at the ripe old age of 88.  She lived above the bar and treated her employees like family.

So this week’s Bar Review is, in spirit, at the Rip Tide Lounge.  They will give you 2 for 1 Old Styles with your student ID. To get there from the law school, cab it.   Doors open at 7:30 Chicago time.

See you Thursday,

The Social Committee

Now that we got Obama, I mean Osama, Book Review

Three months ago some Navy Seals killed Osama Bin Laden.  When I think about the raid, I prefer to imagine a kid friendly version where actual seals enter the compound while barking for bait fish and balancing beach balls on their noses.  As the seals bombard Osama with beach balls his multiple wives form a human shield forming the largest animal v. human game of dodge ball the world has ever known.

I suppose it also could have been this guy.

As meaningful as the Osama take down was for its retributive benefit and as an operation to fight terrorism around the world, it holds a different significance for me.  It affirms a universal truth about men.  No, I am not discussing our penchant for human shields.  Rather, I refer to our undeniable exposure to pornography.  In case you didn't hear, Osama had porn.  The leader of jihadists throughout the world who was often referred to as pious was anything but.  Surprised?  I'm not.  The  skeptic in me has known for a long time that there are no truly pious men, just men biding their time until they have a some time alone with the Internet. Of course the issues involving global terrorism and jihad are way more serious and complex that every man's porn habit.

I recently finished a book which deals with some of those issues and more, The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson, ("TFQ").  Let me say first that I'm not a fan of books about Jews.  I'm a Jew, (genetically at least) and I have read, mostly on my mother's suggestion, a shitload of novels that could best be described as Jew centered fiction.  There was the one about the inquisition, the biblical one; she just tried convincing me to read one about a Jewish civil war soldier.  I  picked up TFQ because I heard the end of an interview with Jacobson on NPR where his response to a question about winning the Man Booker Prize was, "it was about time."  So I read TFQ and was not disappointed.

The novel revolves around three friends (two Jewish and one who desperately wants to be Jewish) and touches upon the complexities of their relationships and their feelings about their own religion.  The book, though not lengthy, is not what you'd call a fast read.  What little action there is takes place early on and sets the stage for many chapters which can best be described as "discussion of earlier events".  The entire novel is set against a backdrop of ever increasing European anti-semitism and its relationship to sympathy for Palestinians under Israeli occupation.  One of the main characters has chosen to be an "ashamed  Jew" speaking out against the occupation while the other Jewish character is less political and deeply mourning his wife.  The main character, a gentile, longs to be a Jew; something which he perceives to be special with an intellectual flair which he cannot grasp.  There are other minor characters all which play somehow into the themes of being  Jewish in a Christian world.  The book is funny at times, incredibly well written and rewarding.  It may have Jews but my mother will probably hate it because it's not pulpy trash.

There is one overarching reminder throughout the book.  This is a Christian world (at least Europe and America).  My son is about to start public school after going to a temple school for pre-kindergarten.  We didn't want to send him there but we quickly realized that the non-denominational schools were by default, Christian schools.  Now we are faced with the same problem, public school is Christian.  Christmas is in the curriculum.  We are not religious people, really we are atheists.  But if there is  no true non-denominational option, we'd rather him have a Jewish education than a Christian one.  Today we were at local public high school for my son's basketball trophy ceremony.  The High School rents its cafeteria to a church on the weekends and there were church flyers everywhere.  I wasn't offended but should I be, it's a public school.  We're going to see how it goes with public school, but the second my kid tells me Jesus died for my sins I'm going to start saving up to get him back in the Jewish day school.

Anyone who thinks there is a war on Christianity should feel secure that the war is over and the Christians won.

CRUDBUMP: ____ You If You Don't Like Christmas

Shitty Poem for winter in South Florida

In winter the leaves don't fall
well, some leaves fall
but they do not fill bags on every lawn.
We do not own a rake
or a blower
because we are tropical
and have Cuban restaurants in every strip mall.

In winter the children still play soccer outside
in shorts and t-shirts,
and visit the beach
though the wind has picked up
and it is not
possible
to play frisbee.

In winter we wait for our friends from the snow
to visit
on their way to the new
cruise ships and their
gluttonous escapes
into the Carribean.
We drive them
to the airport.

In winter we unpack our one sweater
and wear it one time
and pack it up again
for next year.

We do not realize that spring has arrived.