Lisztomania by Phoenix is one of those songs you hear and enjoy but then forget to add to your playlist. At least that is my experience with the song, I shouldn’t speak on behalf of @YouTheReader. I always thought it was a cool weird title for a song that had nice lyrics and a catchy beat. The term was coined by a German poet, Heinrich Heine, in 1844 in reference to “Lisztomania or Liszt fever was the intense fan frenzy directed toward Hungarian composer Franz Liszt during his performances. This frenzy first occurred in Berlin in 1841 and the term was later coined by Heinrich Heine in a feuilleton he wrote on April 25, 1844, discussing the 1844 Parisian concert season. Lisztomania was characterized by intense levels of hysteria demonstrated by fans, akin to the treatment of celebrity musicians today – but in a time not known for such musical excitement,” (Source: Wikipedia directly - hope whoever wrote that knows what they’re talking about.) A more modern way to think about the hysteria is Beatlemania when The Beatles’ popularity grew in the UK in 1963, before arriving in the US in 1964.
@YouTheReader I swear it’s just part of the writing bit. You already know this by now, but it helps me with the writing theme for each post.
I constantly have one headphone in my ear and love walking around Hoboken/NYC listening to music. My left earphone actually cracked while I was shooting hoops in May so when I’m older that may explain why I end up hard of hearing out of my right ear.
My @RapGenius POV Annotation of the Lyrics Above
The Guinness reviews have me thinking less and hopefully help grow Week to Week Notes. At this point, I try not to get offended if someone doesn’t like a particular column I write because I’ve been writing enough that it’s not really hard to let it go - they may always love the next thing I have to say in my next piece. I’ll be the first to tell you, at certain points in my life I’ve been an absolute mess. Not so much these days, although last night I did just drink 7 pints and a had few on the house that don’t count because they weren’t Noted. @AnyoneWorrying about my drinking habits, I’m just working on getting Week to Week Notes to the masses one day.
Alright, enough of me rambling on the intro it’s…
Guinness Challenge Season #1
@Kids don’t try this at home. Not just because you’re underage and will have plenty of pints to drink if that ends up being your thing when you’re older but also because Guinness is actually best served in a pint glass from a tap. A pint of Guinness varies depending on the drinking establishment. If the keg it sits in is rarely poured, it can lead to some underwhelming taste. Rather than stealing gimmicks like reviewing pizzas, I’d like to start taking Notes while drinking Guinness. @DavePortnoy sue me, but my grandfather from Connemara, who I never got the chance to meet, Thomas Davis, used to drink pints and by all accounts was a self-taught thinker. The one rule I’ve imposed on myself is that I will only have 1 pint per sitting from each establishment I review, so @AnyoneWorrying, don’t worry about my drinking habits. The Guinness Challenge is to “cut the G” on your first sip (more like a gulp and a half). If this is your first time hearing about it, I didn’t come up with the fun challenge @YouTheReader can try the next time you have a Guinness. I’m planning on this to just be a SEASONal thing for me because I don’t know about you, but I prefer a pint in the cold weather months until the end of March. The 0.0 to 10.0 scale will be extremely nuanced but as a reference point, the only perfect 10.0 I plan to ever give out is at the Guinness Factory in Dublin one day.
Finnegans 1/5 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 9.5
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Protestant Peter sitting next to me is from Northern Ireland. He met the Queen twice. Buckingham Palace was crazy with security. He’d much rather watch the NFL but loves watching his kids play sports. Irish Rugby supporter. Tadhg Furlong is his favorite player. Man Utd fan as well. Finnegans have Dogs visit the pub in the summer. Terry the bartender coached rugby throughout the South Pacific. He also played 2 seasons for Canterbury and 10 seasons with Clontarf in Dublin.
Don’t worry, I made sure I could call Peter a Protestant. We shared a quick laugh over that. Cool story - when I actually first walked into the pub on Thursday night, another Peter who I met earlier in the NFL season was there. I think it might have been Week 2, I had my pen and paper for the 4 pm games after watching the Jets beat the Browns and I wanted a celebratory pint. I remember explaining the concept of Week to Week Notes to him and he said back in September “that is awesome you should go for it man” - so for me, it was a bit full circle that I was now doing a Guinness review and talking to some of his friends. Finnegans was the birthplace of #GuinnessChallengeSeason so no matter what comes of the Pint&Pen&Paper, it’ll always be a special place in Hoboken for me. Tadhg Furlong is a mountain of a man (see GIF I made below). Peter recommended I check out Molly’s in NYC for a great pint (see below). You can also check out the dogs Peter was referring to below as well. Another cool part of this review was I found out that Terry the bartender was a former rugby stud. I’ve had my share of pints from Finnegans, it is right down the road, and always thought Terry was a badass behind the bar. Hopefully, he doesn’t kick my ass for writing that, just kidding he’s a very nice guy. *Note to self* - that could be a cool 15-question interview on rugby. I’m looking forward to checking out Finnegans again soon!
Plug Uglies 1/6 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 8.8
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Tadhg from Connecticut is the bartender. Plug Uglies has been around for 25 years and actually used to be across the street before moving to its current spot 8 years or so ago. Standard Friday night of a packed bar. Shuffleboard is the pub’s signature game. It is a San Francisco 49ers and Golden State Warriors bar. Josh Allen owns Tadhg’s Patriots. Tim next to me is a Giants fan and was a big Eli Manning fan.
When I walked into Plug Uglies I had no idea it was the #1 San Francisco sports bar in NYC. It is also home to a very cool shuffleboard if you’re looking to have a drink and do activities. If you’re a Niners fan or have been (a fan of) Steph Curry with the shot you should check it out. Tadhg doesn’t feel great about the Pats’ chances of making the playoffs because of Josh Allen’s track record against NE. Tim and I talked about some NY football. I mentioned that the Jets shouldn’t go after Derek Carr and he agreed that you shouldn’t overpay QBs - spread the money around the team. I’m looking forward to checking out Plug Uglies again soon!
Gramercy Ale House 1/6 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 8.8
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Brian the bartender said a lot of different fans come in here. Georgia Bulldog Bar. He is a fan of the Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers - all the teams that never win (he said it, not me). Gramercy Ale House has the NFL and MLB packages. They also get a ton of Providence alum for their basketball games. Mike Piazza was Brian’s favorite Met. He wants Lamar Jackson on the Jets. Gramercy Ale House has trivia Tuesdays. His parents have thick Irish accents.
The Irish brogue talk came up because Brian’s parents are from Ireland. We both find it funny that because our parents have an accent we can clearly understand what they’re saying but most people who didn’t grow up around a brogue every day may struggle to understand American English. Gramercy Ale House played Lisztomania so that is where I fell back in love with this song after not having it on my playlist. It is now. I’m looking forward to checking out Gramercy Ale House again soon!
Fitzgerald’s Pub 1/6 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 9.3
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: 2 Johns behind the bar. Fitzgerald’s pub has been around for 31 years. One of the Johns is from Queens and the other is from San Francisco. John from Queens is a Mets fan and John from San Francisco is a Bills fan. Unsure about if Carlos Correa will sign. Jose Reyes was one of the Johns’ favorite players. Bills John will always love the Bengals for the vigil lighting they had for Damar Hamlin. He was working when the play happened and he had to walk away from behind the bar to gather himself for a minute. It wasn’t because Damar Hamlin was a Bill, he would have had the same reaction to any human where that happened. He loves where he is from but NYC is his home for life. Their darts board is the home to 3 leagues.
Mets fan John said it was a toss-up between David Wright and Jose Reyes for his favorite Met. Bills fan John used to be a Raiders fan before they moved the team to Las Vegas. It was the 2nd time the Raiders left the Bay so he said he wasn’t going to get fooled into rooting for them again. When he moved to NYC, everybody kept nagging him to be a Jets or Giants fan so he decided to go with Buffalo (this was around 2015 so he wasn’t front-running). It was very clear to me that John was sincerely shaken up by the Damar Hamlin situation. We both were thrilled by the positive updates that keep coming out. I’m looking forward to checking out Fitzgerald’s again soon!
Abbey Tavern 1/6 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 9.3
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Gary and Jack are the bartenders. Gary is from Cavan and has been stateside for 12 years. Jack is from Nebraska. Jack has been adopted as Black Irish. Brian O'Driscoll is Gary’s favorite player. Jack’s dad was a linebacker for Nebraska in the 80s, Eric Buchanan. His grandfather Buck Buchanan was a Hall of Fame defensive tackle for the Super Bowl IV-winning Kansas City Chiefs. Jack has never seen the Super Bowl ring but he’s sure Buck’s ex-wife has it. Gary went home for Christmas and the ticket was cheaper than a flight to the West Coast of the US. For the first time in 3 years, he and his siblings were all home for the holidays. One of his siblings is in Boston, one in Pittsburgh (I think - I scribbled it), and the other three are next door to his parents.
I made sure to check with both of them to note Jack being adopted Black Irish and we all laughed. I had no idea that rugby players would do trick passes through the legs, so I learned something for Gary (see GIF of Brian O’Driscoll below). That whole COVID thing prevented him from seeing his family, so it sounds like he enjoyed his trip back home. I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody from Nebraska before so it was cool getting to know Jack briefly. He is 22 and new to NYC **Cough, Cough, @Ladies you should stop by Abbey Tavern for a pint, Cough, Cough** I was impressed to learn that Jack has already made a playwright about his African-American experience growing up in Nebraska. Jack, a poet, and writer himself said he enjoys creatively writing abstract concepts and it sounded very interesting. Luckily I was able to find a video of his grandfather who was selected to the NFL’s Top 100 NFL All-Time team so I made him a GIF. I’m looking forward to checking out Abbey Tavern again soon!
AWOL 1/6 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 5.7
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: I CAN’T HEAR ANYTHING - KARAOKE BAR.
I felt terrible giving the Guinness a low score but it was in a plastic cup so I have to keep it 100 with @YouTheReader. Nothing wrong with the suds though, they were still tasty. It was so annoying that the other customers wouldn’t stop everything they were doing (singing) so that I could get to know the staff and review the Guinness. I’m looking forward to checking out AWOL again soon! (May re-review this if they can find me a glass.)
Molly’s 1/6 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 9.8
Guinness Challenge: Incomplete but acceptable
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Another Gary is the bartender. Sarah from Philly and Jess from Colorado were next to me. They work in fashion. Gary doesn’t like the whole Guinness Shamrock on the head of the drink thing but can do it if necessary. The girls’ job is to get the clothes to the photo shoot. They’re playing Bob Dylan. There are beautiful women. Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy would sit at Molly’s back in the day. The original pub Molly's Pub and Restaurant Shebeen was established was 1895. The wooden bar I’m sitting at was built in 1957. Jimmy Fallon and Paul Rudd love the Guinness at Molly’s. The food is out of this world. Each wall at the pub has a specific theme of history.
As soon as Gary started talking about the history at Molly’s my historian ears perked up. He said the pub is the hub for the community where an elite group of regulars come to hang out. He’s been working there since he came over from Ireland and loves it. The staff is like family, they even have a side wall for those no longer around so they’re always with us. Celebrities are constantly walking in and out of Molly’s and it is easy to tell why. Gary pointed up from the seat I was sitting in and explained that during Prohibition the beam above me was a wall that would separate the Grocery Front from the Speakeasy. That was an awesome random happenstance. Sarah from Philly and Jess from just outside Denver were great conversing with a paddy hat-wearing stranger as well. @YouTheReader no I did not ask for their numbers (I was working) but I did give them the @You_The_Reader handle on a napkin because I’m old school and hopefully they read this one day. I’m looking forward to checking out Molly’s again soon!
