Burninating the countryside

Somehow, over the course of the last year, I had forgotten what makes living in Texas especially sweet. There are some definite rough patches: it's searingly hot & ridiculously humid, there is some definite redneck culture going on here, and the racial divide seems a little wider than elsewhere (but that could be just in my mind). This week, however, I experienced a revelation: It's about the fucking bars, dumbass. Sure there are some cheesy, soulless sports-bars around but you'd be hard-pressed to find a place where they don't exist. They do, however, serve an essential purpose come Sundays during football season, especially if they also have the Sunday Ticket.

Last night though proved again how great some places around here are. We went to a tavern called Molly's and were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves in the midst of a low-lit, wood-heavy saloon. Point: bar. We ambled over to the long serving area, located in the middle of the establishment. To my amazement, I see probably about 60 or so beers on tap. Shit! I had been to many places where the only things available were Bud, Shiner, and Miller. Just when I didn't think it could get any better, I saw a tapper of Boddington's, one of my absolute favorite draughts, which I chose it for my wife, saying "I think you'd like this." I then got a Stella Artois draught for myself. I don't really know why I did this because the preference should have been the other way around in the first place--I like the Boddington's, so I should get it for myself. I think I was just giddy with beer choice excitement. Anyway, we get them, though served in Pilsner-type glasses, and the grand total was $7. Are you kidding me? I then spied the game of "darts" on the other side of the bar. Now, I don't know if you've ever heard about this game, but it's amazing. You take these flying missile projectiles, called "darts," and you throw them at a circular cork-board delineated into different point values. This cork-board is called a "dart-board." Needless to say, it was a rollicking good time. At one point, my wife threw these "darts" at my head for fun! And we laughed...

But anyway, the darts were also fun--and free! Texas baby. Texas. Of course, during our playing, we did overhear some stupidly drunk dudes with Dark Side of the Moon baseball caps turned backwards asking some black skater dude about "watermelons and fried chicken" and something about never being able to refuse a free drink because of his color. Sigh.
Another great bar incident of late came on Tuesday. I went into Houston to meet some of the music editing staff from the Houston Press. We met up at a tiny dive called Leon's Lounge. Supposedly the oldest bar in Houston? Anyway, there was a big fluffy bardog, a grand piano, it was dark as hell (yet there were stained glass windows), and the layout was sort of cavernous...little niches where you could have your own little soiree, if you so chose. But the best part: they had a shuffleboard table. I had never seen one of these things before, nor played shuffleboard, but it was fucking great. The table had been sprinkled with salt to make the pucks slide better. And the concept was sort of "curling-esque:" you each had 4 pucks and you tried to get your pucks past certain lines to score higher points, but at the end of the board (and along the edges), the sliding surface drops off. I'll include a picture since I am not successfully describing this very well. Anyway--great bar game.

I guess the moral is: it's good to get out once in a while and enjoy a cold beverage. Anybody planning that this weekend? I think I'm going to see Miami Vice. Hell yes.