Another Reason To Drink Today

The 2008 LEO Nightlife/Bar Guide is out today. Pick up a copy and read it! Pretty please ...

Today's Reason To Drink

The Great Boat Race -- I get to ride on the Belle of Louisville.

The Belle on the Belle.

Is this event fun? Should I go?

Today's Reason To Drink

Let's go see the Velcro Pygmies tonight at the Chow Wagon! Sure it's kinda chilly -- all the more reason to jump around and act the age you were when Poison was on top of the charts. They go on at 8pm. And it's free! I'll be there, Aquanet in tow.

Today's Reason To Drink

Do you really need my blog posts this week? I mean, it's Derby. There're millions of reasons to drink in Louisville this week!

OK, OK, I'll still post reasons -- or more like my itinerary for the week. Maybe you can join me. And buy me a beer, of course. Or just give me a swig from your flask.

Today's Reason To Drink

I just heard about a last-minute concert scheduled for tonight. If this is your cup of tea -- Garrison Starr and Amanda Lucas & Audrey Cecil will be playing at the Kentucky Barbecue Co. (formerly Cafe Lou Lou, 1800 Frankfort Ave.) around 9pm. Tickets are a mere $10. Not bad for a high-caliber musician like Starr. Go on. Google her. I know you want to.

Today's Reason To Drink

Artie Lang is back on the Howard Stern show.

Bar Belle from 4/23/08 LEO

BY SARA HAVENS

Judging juleps

Last Thursday I was invited to be a judge at the fifth annual Four Roses Julep Recipe Contest at Sully’s. Ten bartenders from the city’s finest dining spots wooed and wowed us with their original spin on the popular Derbytime drink. What that meant for me was getting to sample (and sometimes finish) 10 delicious drinks. Some were sugar-rimmed. Some contained fruit. Some stayed close to the original recipe. Some hit to left field (Bailey’s was involved, that’s all I’ll say). I’m not going to lie to you and say it was tough. The only difficulty I had was keeping my scores inside the boxes and keeping away thirsty onlookers.

First place went to Jessica French of Varanese, whose Julep featured a dash of chai tea, lemon juice and basil. Silver went to Bourbon’s Bistro, and bronze to the Red Star Tavern.

I highly recommend a trip to Varanese (2106 Frankfort Ave., 899-9904) to sample the winning cocktail. That was one I had no problem finishing myself.


2 Pub Crawls!

Pick your poison carefully — there are two pub crawls this Saturday on opposite ends of town. First up is the bi-annual Schnitzelburg Walk in Germantown. Second is the J-Walk in Jeffersonville. The Germantown fest is more of an excuse to party outside than an actual mission-driven bar hop. Most of the small, neighborhood watering holes open up their patios and feature live music. If I remember correctly, several main streets are also closed, and drinking outside is actually encouraged.

The J-Walk, however, has a strict itinerary. Ten Jeff bars are involved this year, and two buses will transport malt-walkers from establishment to establishment. The starting line is at the Lighthouse Bar & Grill, and if you want the free T-shirt, it’s advised you get there around 6 p.m. Check out jwalkpubcrawl.blogspot.com for details.

Here’s to a happy Derby. Keep your spirits high, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Drop me a line at shavens@leoweekly.com or leobarbelle.blogspot.com

Today's Reason To Drink

Tonight is the very first Waterfront Wednesday concert of the year. It's a week early this month because of Derby. But at least we've got beautiful weather today! The party starts at 5pm on Waterfront Park's Harbor Lawn. It's free. Tonight's lineup includes The Whigs, Wild Sweet Orange and Griffin House.

I'll be there, but unfortunately, I'll be working behind the bar. Come say hi.

Today's Reason To Drink

It's 72 degrees. If you're not outside, get there!

Today's Reason To Drink

I've only got 4 minutes to save the world.

Today's Reason To Shake

Wow. That's as much action my bed has seen all year!

I seriously thought the Devil was trying to possess me. Then I fell back to sleep.

Today's Reason To Drink

I'm going to be a judge in the Four Roses "Rose Julep Recipe Contest" tonight at Sully's. If you're bored, stop by -- it's from 5:30-7pm. I have no idea what to expect, but I'm hoping for free drinks.

Today's Reason To Drink

I'm in Bar Guide hell right now. You better appreciate it when it comes out April 30. Or use it to wipe your ass ... what do I care?

Today's Reason To Drink

Tuesday is a bitch. Not those yuppie-mall-walker types, but the ones you went to high school with. The ones who wouldn't let you sit at their table. Bitches!

Louisville wins "Twin City of Bushmills" contest

Bushmills master distiller Gordan Donoghue presented a $40,000 check to Mayor Jerry Abramson at a press conference at Metro Hall earlier this morning, where it was announced that Louisville won the nationwide “Twin City of Bushmills” contest. Half of the prize money will go toward Louisville’s annual Irish Fest and World Fest, and the other half will help fund responsible drinking programs throughout the city. No shots were served to the eager press, unfortunately.

In celebration of the 400th anniversary of its original license to distill, Bushmills searched for the “Twin City of Bushmills in America.” After narrowing to three finalist cities (Louisville, Boston and Portland, Maine), Bushmills asked Americans to choose the winner by voting online. More than 55,000 votes were cast, and Louisville emerged the winner. Mayor Abramson confessed he voted at least three times a day during the March contest.

Donoghue and Mayor Abramson also exchanged barrels of Bushmills Irish Whiskey and Kentucky bourbon to symbolize this new bond.

We Won!

Guess what ... Louisville won the Bushmills Twin City competition! There's going to be a press conference w/ the mayor today at 11:30 a.m. Looks like I'll have to throw my reporter hat on and cover it. Look for more details later.

Today's Reason To Drink

Coffee is my friend.

Today's Reason To Drink

I like how from this Saturday through May 4, all excuses for bad behavior in this town always begin like this: "Well, it is Derby time."

This excuse can be and is often used for the following:

-Missing work
-Hungover at work
-Sprained ankles
-Drinking on a Sunday night
-One-night stands
-Drunk dialing
-Drunk texting
-Buying a round of Jagerbombs for the entire bar
-Drinking top-shelf liquor
-Drinking in the daytime

Am I missing anything else?

Bar Belle from 4/9/08 LEO

BY SARA HAVENS

West Virginia on a whim

West Virginia isn’t the first place you think of when planning a weekend getaway with friends. New Orleans, Vegas, Ashville, Chicago and Memphis all land much higher on my list than Morgantown. But I wasn’t the one celebrating my birthday last weekend, so I had no say. Instead, my friends Courtney and Matt were the Aries in the bunch, and they decided to throw a dart at the map of the United States to pick our destination. Hence Morgantown, W.Va., home of the WVU Mountaineers. Apparently, Courtney doesn’t have good aim.

Not to say we didn’t have a good time. We drank our way up and down High Street and tried not to offend our sometimes-sports-rivals. The bar food was phenomenal — I had wings at three of the four pubs where we dined. The favorites were Gibbie’s, The Fish Bowl, Bugsy’s and Boston Beanery. And we couldn’t help ourselves from stopping by The Back Door both nights. Sure, it hardly had any similarities to our own beloved Back Door, but it just felt right being there. And they had $2 drafts and pizza by the slice.

Our gang of seven even managed to squeeze in a visit to the local winery, called Fork of the Cheat. I’ll admit Huber’s is far superior, but FOC had its charms from being tucked away on a windy, narrow mountain road. That’s where we met FOC owner Jerry Deal, “The only Deal in town,” he said, after advising us to buy Powerball tickets before we left the Mountain State.


Bushmills Update
For those asking about the results of the “Twin City of Bushmills” contest held in March — the counting is still under way, but the website promises they’ll have a winner (between Louisville, Boston and Portland, Maine) this month. I voted one last time on March 16, and we were clearly in the lead. Keep your fingers crossed.

Here’s to passing out before the fireworks Saturday! Boom me at shavens@leoweekly.com or leobarbelle.blogspot.com

Today's Reason To Drink

Why does every organization, nonprofit, theater company, musical, art gallery, book store, bar, restaurant, flower store, health food store and dickhead have an event next week that they, of course, want listed in LEO free of charge? Seriously, there are a gazillion things going on April 16-23. Can't we spread it out. You're driving me insane! And you wonder why I drink so much.

Today's Reason To Drink

Word of the Day: Balls-Deep!

Examples of Usage:

"We're going balls-deep on this marketing project, boss."

"Go balls-deep, or go home."

"It may be time to balls-deep-six it and start over."

"Balls-Deep. 2 Excellent!"

Today's Reason To Drink

Why is Thunder Over Louisville a week early this year? I'm just not ready for all things Derby quite yet. Oh well, guess I'll be stumbling around the river on Saturday.

Today's Reason To Drink

Off to West Virginia tonight on a road trip/birthday party weekend. So I won't be posting tomorrow. But I'll have all the details on the various shenanigans that ensue in next week's Bar Belle. Lord help us.

Oh, and I hear Miller Lite is going to change their look soon. If it ain't broke, why fix it?

Today's Reason To Drink

Got to drink with Chelsea Clinton last night at the Pink Door! Well, I was the only one drinking, but it still counts, right? I blogged about it on LEO's News Blog -- click here for the details.

Notice in this picture it looks like she has no feet.

Today's Reason To Drink

I'm giving up drinking.