The 12th month of Pint&Pen&Paper calls for another The Lumineers tune. This one is off their Christmas album. The tune is called This Is Life (Merry Christmas). Last month we completed their 1st album (not including the bonus tracks). In January, we’ll start back up with their 2nd album called Cleopatra.
What’s pretty cool about this song is that the band’s leading singer, Wesley Schultz’s wife, Brandy, co-wrote this holiday jingle!
Laughter is the best medicine!
@YouTheReader and I are quite literally reading between the lines, very cool!
Dream on!
Ahhh, I’ve never cried once, they must be talking to you reading this, but I too am rooting for you!
I’m usually very skeptical about new Christmas songs, but this one has grown on me, well done!
On to the pints!!!
#GuinnessChallengeSeason
@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 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, I’d like to start taking Notes while drinking Guinness. My grandfather from Connemara, whom 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. The 0.0 to 10.0 scale will be extraordinarily nuanced but as a reference point, the only perfect 10.0 I plan to give out is at the Guinness Factory in Dublin one day.
Song On In The Background: Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Abe Lincoln and JFK portraits behind the bar. This is the PJ Clarke’s on the Hudson and they have an oyster bar. Above the bar they have American, Irish, British, Scottish, and Brazilian flags hanging up. Old school bar, I like the wood I’m writing on. They have a picture of Yogi Berra in their seating area. Being that this bar is in Lower Manhattan and it’s after work, one would assume there is a lot of networking going on around me and I’m here to confirm that there is. The original PJ Clarke’s was established in 1884 and they used to provide house accounts before credit cards. By 1978, the delinquent accounts ran up a tab of $1.2 million. Yikes!
After hearing about the $1.2 million in delinquents I made sure to pay for Guinness right away. Their original location is on 3rd Ave in Midtown East. PJ Clarke’s has expanded to 3 other locations in NYC as well as Philadelphia and Washington DC. Since 1884, they have been serving the same thing, fresh food, frosty drinks, and good, old-fashioned conversation. Buddy Holly proposed to his wife at PJ Clarke’s just 5 hours after they met. Nat King Cole called them, “The Cadillac of burgers.” When they first started as a saloon, their customers were mostly Irish laborers looking for a pint of Guinness after work. The name PJ Clarke comes from Patrick "Paddy" J. Clarke who ended up buying the bar in 1912 after bartending in it previously. During Prohibition, Paddy Clarke made bathtub gin and bootlegged Scotch from Canada. Frank Sinatra regularly closed the place down at Table #20. The Presidential Kennedy would regularly hang out at PJ Clarke’s as Jackie brought John Jr. and Caroline in for Saturday burgers. Caroline Kennedy got kicked out of PJ Clarke’s for boozing underage when she was just 17 years old. This all took place in their original location, which I have to check out for more cool stories. The PJ Clarke’s was opened in ‘06 and has a beautiful view of the Hudson. I look forward to grabbing another pint at PJ Clarke’s again soon!
Song On In The Background: Why Can’t I Touch It? by Buzzcocks
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: It’s Happy Hour. Yaridia is the bartender. They have the 3 step Guinness pour guide behind the bar. The White Oak Tavern hosts music every Sunday. It’s usually a mix of folk Americana and country. “It’s fun,” says Yaridia. She usually asks the guests what their favorite spirit is, but her preference is the mezcal whiskey bible. The White Oak Tavern has a Whiskey Club where you can keep a bottle stored at the bar. They have specialty glasses for those in the Whiskey Club. The pan-roasted chicken or steak frites are recommended on the menu. Yaridia has been in the bar industry for 10 years and loves the job. She is currently hoping to work on her tennis game. This is a whiskey-forward, wood interior, English Tavern style of bar.
White Oak Tavern is named after the tall white oak trees of Kentucky. In both food and drink, we preserve the rustic traditions and fares of the “olde” tavern, somewhat lost by the passing of the Volstead Act of 1919. Our scratch kitchen offers a wide variety of American fare with a slow food emphasis and a nod to things past. (Source: White Oak Tavern) Not only can you join their Whiskey Club, but you can also join their Wine Down Sundays where they have 1/2 price wine bottles from 4 PM to close. I look forward to grabbing another pint of Guinness at White Oak Tavern again soon!
Song On In The Background: Renegades by X Ambassadors
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Owen from Galway is the bartender. He recommends the cheeseburger and a pint of Guinness. Taaffes Bar in Galway or the Gravedigger in Dublin would be his favorite pubs back home. “I love New York because there is just something about it that sucks you in.” The owners of Jackdaw are from Sligo. Owen plays Gaelic football for both New York and Sligo through the bar. Jackdaw opened in ‘19 and they serve a nice looking pint. The name of the bar comes from W.B. Yeats.
W.B. Yeats was an Irish poet and writer. Born in 1865 in Dublin, he would spend most of his summers in County Sligo. He wrote a very nice folk tale called “The Jackdaw”. Jackdaws are small black birds that are extremely sociable amongst not only other species of birds but also humans. Jackdaw the pub in East Village is a friendly neighborhood bar that provides subtle hints of Irish influence through their food and drink menus. They have a few quotes from W.B. Yeats, one being "There Are No Strangers Here; Only Friends You Haven't Yet Met." I look forward to getting another pint of Guinness at Jackdaw’s again soon!