This weekend I was in Canton, Ohio, for a wedding. It was fun, and of course, west of the Alleghenies we’re all models. Got to try some Great Lakes Octoberfest (strongly recommended!) and got to relive the Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism videos.
Just to prove how on-the-dot these are, here’re some picture from the hotel (click for full-size):
That’s two fat guys walking through a drive-through ATM, while two cars wait for them to finish up.
Canton’s also the burial place of President McKinley who was shot in Buffalo, making him the undisputed champion of Crumbling Rust Belt Presidents.
Via Tate, this young man made his lady’s day with a surprise rendition of “Distopian Dream Girl” performed by The Capital Hearings. Good work, and good luck you two!
This happened, obviously, in Spike Mendelsohn’s Good Stuff Eatery, and it’s pretty cool that he and the staff made time for such a unique proposal. Here’s the original song, by Built to Spill.
It may be a little unorthodox, but here’s a little dose of music at the start of the week. It’s usually easy to describe bands in relative terms; so-and-so is like James Brown with a touch of Morrissey, such-and-such group feels like U2 plus John Phillips Sousa. But when it comes to British rockers The Go! Team, such descriptions are futile. The Go! Team doesn’t sound like anything else. Maybe if George Clinton were a five-foot nothing rapper named Ninja, and P-Funk relied on bouncy, child-like samples? That doesn’t even do it justice.
Anyway, The Go! Team is bringing their eclectic and electric live act to the 9:30 Club on Wednesday night. I for one, will jump around like a fool. Check out the videos below, and come meet me by the back bar.
Groupon is getting in trouble with state liquor laws. At least it is with Massachusetts’ Alcohol Beverage Control Board, citing violations of various liquor laws in the state, but mostly regarding discounted drinks. However, Groupon appears to be the only one of its kind under scrutiny, as competitors like KGB Deals continue to promote coupons applicable to food and drink specials.
In some others states, at least, Groupon appears to be somewhat in the clear. In New York, for instance, it appears to be [permissible] to discount drinks as much as 50% – but no more – while in California, anything is game as long as Groupon never uses the word ‘free’ around an offer where alcohol is involved, according to officials in those states I spoke with Friday. Of course there are 47 other states, approximately one-third of which are similarly strict as Massachusetts around the sale of alcohol. It’s a good bet Groupon will face more booze troubles.
One commenter at Forbes writes, since Groupon’s policy change in response to the purported violations, “How are we going to eat $50 worth of $2 tacos???” Naturally, this leads me to question a few things: If Groupon (and implicitly the bar or restaurant in question) is not allowed to offer coupon discounts, does this apply to discounted restaurant gift certificates from venues like Restaurant.com? Are coupons and gift certificates treated as one in the same legally, or does this differ from state to state? Does it matter if a third-party is offering the discount on a coupon or a gift certificate? I assume that, if you purchase a gift certificate from a restaurant (or even get the restaurant gift card from Costco or a grocery store), it is treated as cash at said restaurant, and is therefore applicable to both food and alcohol. I’d like to know if that’s not the case in some states.
I fail to see a distinction between Groupon’s and Restaurant.com’s wares: both are pre-paid deals. Whether I pay $10 for $25 worth of food and drink at an establishment with a Groupon or pay $10 (sometimes $2 or $3 if you have a promo code) for $25 worth of food or drink at an establishment with a Restaurant.com gift certificate would seem irrelevant. Then perhaps Restaurant.com’s “gift certificate” is a misnomer as it is a discount with restrictions like Groupon. And yet, it appears that you can continue to buy both food and drink with a regular restaurant gift card/certificate. If a restaurant compensates you for a bad experience with a gift certificate, is it in violation if you use the gift certificate for “free” drinks? Is it in violation if it compensates you 100% for said bad experience immediately and your order included alcohol? What about if you win a certain amount off your tab during a restaurant-hosted trivia contest and the like?
And finally, I’m disappointed with the Internet’s offering of state liquor laws compilations. There’s Wikipedia’s reference, but it seems incomplete on restrictions. I suppose I was expecting a ranking with up-to-date descriptions, because I’m not entirely clear what each state comprehensively allows or restricts in 2011. Perhaps a project to pursue later, unless y’all have a better reference.
Every Friday morning we kick off your day with a series of videos, loosely gathered around a theme. Since Phil Raintree, PicantePants, Rhom, Mr. Fantastic, Josh Zerkle, and I all took part in last night’s Dudefest, today it’s music from The Big Lebowski! Don’t worry if you don’t like that movie. Paramedics will be with you shortly.
My Morning Jacket – Man In Me Yes it’s a Bob Dylan cover. But it’s a good one. I once went snowboarding with a girl I was dating and her friend. They claimed New Morning is Dylan’s best album. That’s just batshit crazy. It has one good tune. We broke up soon after.
Credence Clearwater Revival – Lookin’ Out My Back Door The Dude was really bummed when that punk Larry Sellers took all his CCR tapes, and rightly so.
Gipsy Kings – Hotel California The song that introduces Jesus Quintana. That creep can roll. Also, whoever put this slideshow together took some fantastic shots.
Heads up; if you GIS ‘Jesus Quintana’ there’s a LOT of disturbing stuff. Header image courtesy of ~EmegE.
Senegal is a small dusty country on the west coast of Africa. It first appears in history when the Ghana Empire came over the sandy hills on their camels, pulling gold and salt from the earth to ship east. Islam came west across the desert later, and one third of the people became slaves. The French put children in chains and shipped them across the dark ocean, never to feel the heat of Africa again. Fifty years ago the French left and Senegal was, to a greater or lesser degree, free.
Our friend Tate spent a year living in Senegal, a modern western intellectual evangelist, serving in the Peace Corps. PicantePants spent a week, admiring the spices and the colors, and melting like an ice sculpture under a blowtorch. So when we found out that one of the best Senegalese restaurants in America was just minutes away, we had to check it out. Below is the story of how we ate, drank, and were merry, and why I owe Phil Raintree a cheeseburger.
A little while back, we talked about the Ibirori celebration/fundraiser for Indego Africa. Fan of international development? Fan of free markets? Just a fan of good drinks and good causes? Than you should join us and our friends at Indego Africa on October 15th for their third annual Ibrori celebration. “INDEGO AFRICA is an innovative non-profit social enterprise [...]
Fan of international development? Fan of free markets? Just a fan of good drinks and good causes? Than you should join us and our friends at Indego Africa on October 15th for their third annual Ibrori celebration. Indego Africa is a fantastic example of entrepreneurial spirit in the non-profit realm. From their website: INDEGO AFRICA is an innovative [...]
Just some random facts about Cleveland: – Ohio has the 7th highest state and local tax burden, as calculated by our friends at the Tax Foundation. – Weirdly, the locals call mayflies “Canadian Soldiers”, and the front desk of the (swanky) hotel and conference center warns that mayflies are not poisonous. I miss mayfly hatches, [...]
