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Abuse the Barman, Get Free Beer

June 19, 2009 at 12:53 PM | 0 Comments

Economic crisis time has brought us plenty, really: cheap airline tickets or staycations, just to name a couple. A surprising bonus out of the global recession is the fact that you can now abuse bar staff in a pub in Spain and get a free beer out of it.

The Casa Pocho bar in Cullera, near Valencia, offers free drinks for "original or hilarious abuse". The owner Bernard Mariusz figured that in these difficult times, people need an outlet for their frustrations and his bar was as good a place as any for it.

Mariusz also says that the Spanish language is full of fantastic abusive phrases, so the challenge to come up with drink-worthy slander shouldn't be too hard. Our limited Spanish doesn't yet extend to too much abuse, but for a free drink, we'll learn anything.

Related Stories:
· Gimme A Beer, Imbecile [Reuters]
· Beer Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: IanKershaw]

Trips We Love: The Year in Beer

June 3, 2009 at 5:11 PM | 0 Comments

Now this is our kind of gap year! A California couple spent the entirety of 2008 traveling the globe with their itinerary fully dictated by one thing: Beer.

Chris Nelson and Merideth Canham-Nelson, the sudsy minds behind thebeergeek.com, declared 2008 "The Year in Beer," and spent $30,000 exploring beer festivals and local craft brewers from Anchorage to Erlangen. Their entire trip is documented with photos and videos on their website, now a comprehensive resource for where to find the best brews in just about every beer-centric locale throughout North America and Europe.

The duo also shared their best bets with the Silicon Valley Mercury News. For a domestic trip, they recommend the Oregon Brewers Festival in Portland (coming up July 23-26). Abroad, they were taken with Cologne's Kölsch bars, where guests are served in 7-ounce glasses that are constantly refilled until you signal you're done by placing a beer mat over the glass. Sounds like a dangerous system to us, but we'd certainly be willing to try.

Well we're thirsty now! And most definitely ready for a Year in Beer of our own, if we only had an extra $30,000 lying around (hint, hint to any potential sponsors).

Related Stories:
· The beer tourists [Mercury News ]
· Best bets for beer travel [Mercury News]
· Brits Complete 24-Year Pub Crawl [Jaunted]

[Photo: balajijegan]

Something to Do in Seattle: Mary Kay Letourneau's 'Hot for Teacher Night'

May 22, 2009 at 4:03 PM | 0 Comments

Mary Kay Letourneau shocked America when she had a sexual relationship with her 12-year-old student, Vili Fualaau. But the naughty teacher antics didn't stop there. She served jail time twice for hooking up with Vili while he was still underage and also gave birth to two of his kids. But you know what? That was sooooo 1999. Mary Kay and Vili, now married, just wanna have some fun this weekend!

Which is why they are hosting Hot Teacher Night at the Seattle bar, Fuel Sports Eats and Beats.

"It's turned into sort of a love story," Fuel owner Mike Morris tells the Associated Press. "I realize it had a sick twist at the beginning, but they're both adults now. They're both married by the state of Washington."

Fuel is located in Seattle's Pioneer Square near the Klondike Gold Rush park and just north of the Qwest football stadium and Safeco field. It gets rave reviews as a sports bar on Yelp but Saturday night should be a different scene entirely.

There's a $10 cover to attend and Vili is actually the headlining DJ. If you do end up going to this, we really want you to send us back a detailed report. Otherwise, we say skip it and catch a Seattle Mariners game that night instead (They're playing the SF Giants.)

Related Stories:
· Mary Kay Letourneau to Host 'Hot Teacher Night' [People]
· Seattle Field Trip [Jaunted]

Cardiff at Night Photos Capture the Ugly Side of Partying

May 16, 2009 at 11:33 AM | 0 Comments

I love a good night out on the town, quaffing pints in pubs and swapping stories with friends, but I try to pack it in before things get ugly. I'd rather not be around when the drunken hordes spill into the streets, shouting at each other, getting in punch-ups, and vomiting at bus stops. Maybe that's why a series of photos by Maciej Dakowicz is so chilling. The Polish photographer created an unlikely viral hit with his Cardiff at Night series, capturing the dark side of partying with decidedly unglamorous scenes of blood, trash, and extreme inebriation on the lanes of downtown Cardiff, Wales over a series of Friday and Saturday nights.

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NYC's Exploding Biergarten Scene

May 15, 2009 at 11:26 AM | 0 Comments

Home to what must be the world's highest concentration of dark, tiny drinking dens, New York's nightlife scene has never been known for roomy outdoor drinking space. But that could be starting to change: NYC is slowly but surely becoming the biergarten capital of the country, with hip drinkers trading in their martini glasses and secret door passwords for picnic tables, ale-filled boots, and lederhosen (Well, we haven't seen any lederhosen yet – but we can hope!)

For many years, NYC had just one truly great biergarten, the legendary Bohemian Hall in Astoria, Queens. This century-old mega-garden is a long-time hangout for Eastern European ex-pats, although the 20-something set clearly got word about the cheap-cheap Czech beers in recent years and the place has become a bit of a zoo lately.

But that's OK, because imitators eager to suck up that overflow crowd have been popping up all over the five boroughs. We've got the hipster take on beer gardens, Radegast Hall, in Williamsburg, and the hard-party version, Loreley, on the Lower East Side.

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Whither Karaoke? NYC's Baby Grand Reinvents Japanese Pastime

May 9, 2009 at 5:01 PM | 0 Comments

Karaoke arrived in the United States in the early 1990's, and while the craze was short-lived in suburban areas, it gained a foothold in cities like New York, where the booze-soaked Japanese pastime was perfectly suited to our tight quarters and stressed out lifestyles. Now nearly two decades old, New York's karaoke culture has flourished and mutated into various forms, from Punk Metal Karaoke at Arlene's Grocery to Movieoke at Two Boots Den of Cin, but it's often at its best when stripped to its soul-baring essence.

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Amsterdam Has the Key To Your Private Mini Bar

April 6, 2009 at 2:41 PM | 0 Comments

Picture this: you're out for an evening in Amsterdam with a few friends, intent on experiencing the city through much wandering and even more drinking, when you get handed a key to your very own, private mini-bar. Thanks to a new bar concept freshly arrived in the "Venice of the north," Amsterdam's late-night, laid-back folk can help themselves to a little bit of whatever is in stock.

The spot, simply and aptly called "Minibar," is set up thus: check in with the Minibar concierge, turn over an ID or credit card for a key to a personal minibar stocked with everything from beer to sodas to champagne, pop open whatever your heart desires, and pay on the way out.

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San Francisco's Little (and Little-er) Italy

April 3, 2009 at 9:11 AM | 0 Comments

Over the past century, San Francisco's Little Italy neighborhood (also known as North Beach) has suffered an oddly similar fate to New York's area of the same name: It's been slowly but steadily eaten away by Chinatown and other surrounding neighborhoods.

In fact, many visitors trek straight from Chinatown to Fisherman's Wharf without even realizing they've gone through what's left of this historic nabe. But while there may not be the many dozens of old-school Italian eateries there once were, there are still some genuine, tasty Italian finds to be had.

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Where Fans of 'Lost' Will Want to Hang Out

March 24, 2009 at 9:11 AM | 0 Comments

Most fans of Lost think you need to visit Hawaii where the show films to fulfill your own personal Dharma Initiative, but we think you'd be just as happy knocking back a few cocktails at the El Avion Bar inside the Hotel Costa Verde in Costa Rica.

The bar (and restaurant and coffee shop) is crafted out of a Fairchild C-123, one of the controversial cargo planes used in the 80's Iran-Contra affair. The bar-plane overlooks the Manual Antonio National Park with its beaches, lush vegetation and killer ocean views. It's almost like you're back on "the island."

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Bar Alchemy at Alembic in San Francisco

March 17, 2009 at 3:25 PM | 0 Comments

Though it was the cradle of the counter-culture revolution in the ’60’s, Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco has become disappointingly gentrified of late. Between the bevy of “smoke” shops and thrift stores, you can even go shopping at the Gap and then chow down on Ben & Jerry’s. It’s about time that an establishment reintroduced the cool factor to the area, and that establishment is the Alembic Bar.

The cocktail menu at this speakeasy-ish bar is a bible of classic concoctions, specialty sips and innovative inebriators—all for $9 each. You can get a saucy Sazerac Old Fashioned, a puckery Pisco Sour, or an old seadog called a Poop Deck with cognac, port and blackberry brandy. Be sure to try one of the ever-changing “New School” tipples though.

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Is Your Facial Hair of World Champion Quality?

March 12, 2009 at 10:21 AM | 1 Comment

Aside from the occasional octogenarian who refuses to admit the Dodgers ever moved away, Brooklyn is not known for its sports prowess. But that doesn't mean it isn't a highly competitive place, so we're glad to see the Williamsburg crowd has found something productive to channel their energy into.

The borough's competitive streak will be on display this Saturday at Public Assembly for the New York City Beard and Moustache Championships. Cash prizes will be awarded for the craziest facial hair in a wide range of categories, including goatee, sideburns, patchy beard, full-grown freestyle, and yes, even a contest just for the ladies (who are allowed to fake it).

Who knows? You might even catch a facial hair legend-in-the-making. The best of the best may try their luck at the World Beard and Moustache Championships (no joke), to be held this Spring in Anchorage, Alaska.

Related Stories:
· New York City Beard and Moustache Championships [Official Site]
· World Beard and Moustache Championships [Official Site]
· Brooklyn travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: roendoftheroad]

Anthony Bourdain Visits Disappearing New York, Tries to Disappear Dive Bar

February 24, 2009 at 4:46 PM | 1 Comment

Anthony Bourdain left behind the Momofukus and the Le Bernardins for a week, dedicating the most recent episode of No Reservations to "disappearing Manhattan." Tony visited all those classic New York places that everyone always espouses their love for -- Katz's Deli, Manganaro's Foods, Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop -- and everyone espouses equally as much about why most of them keep closing. (Hint: Could it be because certain media personalities keep devoting most of their airtime to places like Momofuku and Le Bernardin instead?? Just a thought.)

But we do appreciate Bourdain's love for these old school New York dives, even if for only one episode. Although we have a bone to pick with Tony—in his mostly excellent tour of disappearing Hell's Kitchen, he walks by his fave old dive, Holland Bar (532 9th Avenue, no website of course), and lumps it in with the masses of shuttered gems, lamenting its closure again later in the episode.

Holland Bar is the real deal—a place where no one knows your name, service is not accompanied by a smile, but the bar is dark and the vodka is cheaper than anywhere in Manhattan. And most importantly, Holland Bar is not closed. It just took a temporary break for a mild renovation—don't worry, Tony, it's still dirty as hell, with the same unfriendly, drink-your-afternoon away vibe. Sure, there are the occasional inevitable "hair-gelled douchebags" as Bourdain would say, but we have to wonder if Tony wasn't trying to trying to trick us away from this dive bar gem. Don't disappear it yet, Tony! Manhattan isn't totally lost to the wine bars and douchebags.

· Disappearing Manhattan Travel Guide [No Reservations]
· Anthony Bourdain Directs a Food Porn [Jaunted]
· Anthony Bourdain travel coverage [Jaunted]

Photo: [Travel Channel]