The recent holidays with a nightlife aspect range from Fat Tuesday to Valentine’s Day, but what’s coming up is the monster of them all, St. Patrick’s Day.
— It’s that time of year where you can’t go longer than it takes to shoot some Irish whiskey without hearing Dropkick Murphy’s on the local jukebox, or Celtic Women on a PBS fundraiser. With that said, extraordinary Hudson bartender and singer Amanda said she’s gotten off for St. Patrick’s Day to go see Gaelic Storm in the Cities, which she described as an “internationally known Irish band.” You can check it on-line. But is that comparison geographically non-sensical?
— A while back, I took in the performance of an Irish singer and storyteller at the Winzer Stube, and as part of a silly song he described the farts of a dainty young woman as “light and airy” and those of a heavy man as … well, we won’t go there. Some of my more prudish relatives started booing, lightly, and a bit embarrassed, I wanted to disappear, maybe into the restroom. I guess I won’t be taking them to that punk rock concert.
— The most Irish hats you can find, short of the Party City stores in the Cities, are hanging from the ceiling at Guv’s Place in Houlton, when after factoring in the other green decorations are almost one per ceiling tile. For another such display of glittery greenery, check out Dick’s Bar and Grill.
— Fat Tuesday was largely without bead exchange. However, at the Jeff Loven one-man band performance the following Sunday, a flirtatious young woman made up the difference by taking some of her scads of beads and draping them around the neck of the aforementioned Amanda while she sang. When Amanda returned to her bartending duties, that one woman stole the show from the one-man band in a way truly worthy of Fat Tuesday, if you know what I mean. Dick’s had advertised its offerings, pre-fish-eating and post-megamall-misdeeds, as “99 cent burgers on Fat Tuesday. Beads and Burgers … Just like the good ole days.” You might add a third B, that being beer.
— Here’s the ultimate Valentine’s Day drink, which was available most prominently at Pudge’s Bar: Kinky brand liquor, which was called a lot more fun than chocolates and flowers. Pictured on a flyer was a nostalgic-looking couple sitting on a Middle Class couch, straight out of Leave it to Beaver. This imagery seen in Hudson? No, no …
— And two new revelations about art, taken broadly: The Pepperfest King across the street had added big pink Valentine’s Day hearts to the front of his green ceremonial pepper, as he seems to be marking every holiday as it comes. Then there’s the brown, rustic-looking sign across the front of the huge ice sculpture created by Casanova’s Historic Liquors, which has been added to the presence of a US flag and is an ad for their beer cave event. The sign seems to be sliding downward over time, maybe because of (finally) melting snow.