Pint&Pen&Paper Week 78 (Vol I)
Sunflower
Sunflower
- Madam Mikette’s
- Granny Annie’s Bar
- Subway Inn
- YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune is Sunflower by Swae Lee and Post Malone. I heard it at one of these bars in January. This song was featured in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and spent a total of 33 weeks inside the Top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100. It peaked at #1 in the US, #3 in Ireland & the UK, and was a worldwide hit charting just about everywhere.
I don’t know about you but the first thing I think of with sunflowers are their seeds and baseball. Nothing like popping some seeds in and spitting shells on the diamond or dugout, am I right? There’s an art to it.
Swae Lee, one of the duo Rae Sremmurd, sings this part. Rae Sremmurd had the hit song Black Beatles that everybody did the Mannequin Challenge to. Remember that was fun back in ‘16.
Sidenote: A buddy of mine does a great Swae Lee.
I’ve never really comprehended the lyrics to this song, it just sounds smooth. Swae Lee has a girlfriend who is a baddie, which is a compliment. The relationship appears to be on and off, up and down, but passionate.
He and the baddie fight, but Swae Lee claims to have never taken a loss.
Sidenote: Pretty risky stuff, I’m almost positive women are always right man. Everybody knows this usually gets you in the dog house.
Sunflowers are known to have deep strong roots and can grow in tough soils compared to most flowers. Once they sprout, they can come back every summer. My guess is he’s comparing her to a sunflower in that he doesn’t seem to treat her great but she still shines. The sunflower throughout history represents summer and happiness.
Post Malone doesn’t come in until more than halfway through the song, Swae Lee sorta carries. That said, Post Malone has so many hits for a reason. Despite the lyrics not being the happiest, Malone told Spotify, “This song is so positive and uplifting that you can’t be sad listening to it. Shout out to Swae who is such a god. One of the most talented people I have ever met. He is a genius!”
According to a study by Smackin’ Sunflower Seeds, MLB Players consume about 300,000 bags of seeds during a season. That means every game about 62 bags of sunflower seeds are eaten per team. Since 26 guys are on a roster, the average player eats nearly 2.5 bags of sunflower seeds per game. I bet you it’s the pitchers sitting around, especially the fellas in the bullpen, they have nothing to do most of the time. Pretty wild, but impressive stuff.
Nice tune, it’s an upper, 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 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, 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 ever to give out is at the Guinness Factory in Dublin one day.
Madam Mikette’s (@madammikettes) 1/10 ‘24
Service & Staff: A
Guinness: 8.2
Guinness Challenge: I Failed. X
Song On In The Background: Tessie by Dropkick Murphy’s
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: At the corner spot of the packed pub next to the old school telephone. I was going to go for 3 pints but ran out of pages in the 12th Notebook. C’ste la vie, might have to start saying that more. They do palm readings here, it’s a very cool and unique vibe with portraits of Madams staring at you from the walls. Classy spot, the wood has a nice feel to write on. I’m yapping because the Irish lad bartender is busy and I gotta get a page down at each spot. The telephone doesn’t work, just confirming, I checked it and it ate my quarter.
Located in the heart of Midtown East. Madam Mikette’s describes themselves as funky stylish American Fare. While the bar itself has a nice upscale stylish setting, the environment is anything but formal or highbrow. They have an extensive list of cocktails with over 30 to choose from with classics, ritziers, and their own signatures as options. For private parties, they offer a nice large exposed brick room with plenty of tables and couches. The name Madam Mikette comes from Mikette Cuba. She owned a Gypsy Tea Room where she would perform tea leave readings. Fortune Telling Tea Rooms were a big hit back in the Roaring 20s as a thing to do for fun. On April 17, 1929, Madam Mikette was fined $100 for the crime of illegal fortune-telling. She made the huge mistake of accepting a quarter from an undercover policewoman pretending to seek her future. The officer was Mary Sullivan, who would go on to be the first woman to join the homicide squad in New York and headed the first female division of the NYPD. Cool story all around, Madam Mikette’s bar is a nice homage to the vintage tea room of the Roaring 20s. I look forward to grabbing another pint of Guinness at Madam Mikette’s again!
Granny Annie’s Bar (@grannyanniesbarandkitchen) 1/12 ‘24
Service & Staff: A
Guinness: 8.3
Guinness Challenge: I Failed. X (Close)
Song On In The Background: Sunflower by Post Malone & Swae Lee
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: I just took the Roosevelt Tram, pretty cool! Never ridden a tram before, nice view of The City. Granny Annie’s Bar is the only spot that serves a pint of Guinness on Roosevelt Island. Sports bar with a nice kitchen and rustic feel. Wild Card Weekend of the NFL so they’re talking about it on TV. James is the bartender, he’s worked here for 3 years and thinks the pub grub they have is always much better than you’d expect from a bar. He recommends fried chicken. “I was born in a Yankees onesie,” he says. He’s also a diehard Knicks and Rangers fan. D-Wade was his favorite player in hoops and Lawrence Taylor was his favorite with the Giants.
I highly recommend taking the Roosevelt Tram to Roosevelt Island after my mother recommended that I check out. Granny Annie’s is the only sports bar on the island, so thankfully they serve a quality pint of Guinness or that would’ve spoiled my trip. They will be showing the EURO 2024 matches in the coming weeks. Granny Annie’s also shows Irish rugby and GAA, aside from all the American sports of course. Their menu is quality pub food. They also host brunches from 11 AM to 3 PM on the weekends that feature the likes of Irish Breakfast to bangers and mash. This Sunday’s Stumblin’ Along will feature a bit about the history of Roosevelt Island, pending I can see straight after the Rooster Cup weekend. I look forward to grabbing another pint of Guinness at Granny Annie’s Bar again!
Subway Inn (@subwayinn) 1/12 ‘24
Service & Staff: A
Guinness: 8.1
Guinness Challenge: N/A (Turtle Logo)
Song On In The Background: Gently by Drake ft. Bad Bunny
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Marilyn Monroe portraits on the wall. Working man’s bar. Construction workers talking about the union at the corner end of the bar, they must’ve just got off their Friday evening shift. For food, the wings are recommended, for a drink the bartender says the punch, but all the construction workers are drinking beers too. Black and white old-school tiled floors with a neon sign that says Stewie’s Corner behind the bar. Steve is the bartender and owner. His father passed Subway Inn down to him. The original Subway Inn was located just 2 blocks from this one and was right next to the Subway.
The original Subway Inn was established in 1937. Steve’s father worked for the original owner, Charlie Ackerman. While even back then it was known for its working-class clientele, celebrities such as Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe would stop by for a nightcap after eating at Gino’s restaurant down the block. Subway Inn was also written about by Jay McInerney and Wendy Wasserstein. McInerney is the novelist who wrote the 1991 novel American Psycho, the one Christian Bale would play in the film adaptation, whereas Wasserstein won a Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for her off-Broadway play The Heidi Chronicles. The Subway Inn has some very cool history to it and I look forward to grabbing another pint of Guinness there again!
