7.20.2006
Alcohol, Politics, and no sign of Ted Kennedy.
I just recieved an invitation to attend a "A Non-Political Event for Political People" in Madison, which sounds like a great event. Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend the gathering, but this reminded me of something else going on around the country - liberal drinking.
No, this has nothing to do with frat boys on Friday nights. It's a left-leaning political social event called Drinking Liberally. (Great name, btw).
[Drinking Liberally is] an informal, inclusive progressive social group. Raise your spirits while you raise your glass, and share ideas while you share a pitcher. Drinking Liberally gives like-minded, left-leaning individuals a place to talk politics. You don't need to be a policy expert and this isn't a book club - just come and learn from peers, trade jokes, vent frustration and hang out in an environment where it's not taboo to talk politics.
Bars are democratic spaces - you talk to strangers, you share booths, you feel the bond of common ground. Bring democratic discourse to your local democratic space - build democracy one drink at a time.
If you live in or near a sizeable city, there's probably a chapter near you. In Wisconsin, there are chapters in Madison, Milwaukee, and Racine. There's 12 scattered across Pennsylvania, including 2 in Philadelphia. And even Nashville, TN has a meetup in a bar that I have tried (and failed to remember) to tell C about recently.
C - remember when I tried to tell you about a UFO themed brewpub near downtown recently? Well, a few years back JP and I visited a place called the Flying Saucer, a kooky beer emporium that has metric tons of beer on tap. The theme has to do with UFOs and the paranormal, but not in a geeky way, but instead much like how The Angelic in Madison has to do with Angels. Additionally, the restaurant is loctaed in a beautiful old building that is supposed to be an old railroad freight building.
From Metroblogging Nashville:
First, the premises. This bar is located in one of the coolest buildings in Nashville next to Union Station itself -- it's inside what I believe was the freight building for Union Station, the L&N railroad terminal. It's a gorgeous building that feels (and nearly is) as old as Nashville itself.
Second is the beer -- over 200 beers on tap, and more beyond that in bottles. It's a beer connoisseur's wet dream.
Third is a bit of a curveball: the food. For a bar, they have awesome food. The beer cheese soup is simply divine. It's a heartattack in convenient bread-bowl form factor, but when you fall over, writhing in pain, dying of coronary angina, you'll go with a smile on your face, and know it was all worth it. The turkey meltdown sandwich is also one of my favorites -- generous slabs of smoked turkey on french bread with avocado and cheese. It's hard to go wrong.
So, the moral of this rambling story? Beer is good, and I wish I had one right now.
3 Comment(s) - Click to View/Hide
|
|
|
[ contributors ] -contact us- C brian nick jp [ links ] friends curious character common sense dancing phonograph relative path takecover! politics american progress daily kos democracy for america talking points memo andrew tobias tech engadget slashdot tunes angels twenty coolfer kexp largehearted boy soma fm stereogum the big ticket ttiktda  
 |